Question 1

Why is it ascoltava instead of ha ascoltato?

Accepted Answer

Ascoltava is the imperfetto (imperfect) tense. We use it here because listening to a record was a repeated, habitual action in the past, shown by the phrase ogni sera (every evening). If he only listened to a record once on a specific evening, you would use the passato prossimo: ha ascoltato.

Question 2

Where is the word for 'to' in ascoltava un disco?

Accepted Answer

In English, we say 'listen to,' but the Italian verb ascoltare directly includes the 'to.' It connects directly to its object without needing a preposition like a.

Question 3

How do we know ascoltava means 'he' used to listen?

Accepted Answer

The ending -ava tells us it is the third-person singular form of the imperfetto. Italian often drops the subject pronoun. Without a word like lui (he) or lei (she), it can mean 'he,' 'she,' or even the formal 'you.' The translation says 'he' based on outside context, but any of those three could be correct here.

Question 4

Why doesn't ogni change its ending to match the feminine word sera?

Accepted Answer

The word ogni (every) is an exception to the usual adjective rules because it is invariable. It never changes its spelling and always ends in -i, whether the noun following it is masculine or feminine. It is also only ever used with singular nouns.

Ascoltava un disco ogni sera.

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