Learn Italian: Ascoltavamo spesso la radio il pomeriggio. - We often listened to the radio in the afternoon.

Ascoltavamo spesso la radio il pomeriggio.

We often listened to the radio in the afternoon.

Breakdown of Ascoltavamo spesso la radio il pomeriggio.

ascoltare

to listen / to listen to

spesso

often

her/it (direct object)

il pomeriggio

afternoon

Questions & Answers about Ascoltavamo spesso la radio il pomeriggio.

Why do we use the imperfetto "ascoltavamo" here instead of the passato prossimo?

Ascoltavamo is the imperfetto (imperfect) tense of the regular verb ascoltare. We use the imperfetto here because the sentence describes a repeated, habitual action in the past. A big clue for this is the word spesso (often).

Why isn't there a word for "to" like in the English "listened to"?

The Italian verb ascoltare translates directly as "to listen to". Because the "to" is already built into the verb's meaning, it takes a direct object and you don't need to add a preposition before la radio.

Why does radio use the feminine article la if it ends in an "-o"?

Radio is a common exception to the rule! It is actually short for radiotelefonia, which is a feminine word. Because it is an abbreviation, it keeps its original feminine gender and uses la.

How does il pomeriggio translate to "in the afternoon"? Where is the word for "in"?

When talking about a habitual time of day or day of the week, Italian simply uses the definite article. Putting il before pomeriggio naturally translates to "in the afternoon" or "afternoons" in English.