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La pioggia batteva sulla finestra.

La pioggia batteva sulla finestra.
The rain was beating on the window.
From Lesson 389:Repeating actions (tornare a)·Italian

Breakdown of La pioggia batteva sulla finestra.

la finestra
the window
la pioggia
the rain
battere
to beat, to hit

Questions & Answers about La pioggia batteva sulla finestra.

Why do we use the imperfect tense (batteva) here instead of the passato prossimo?
The imperfect tense is used for ongoing, continuous actions in the past or to set the scene. Here, the rain was continuously hitting the glass, establishing the background atmosphere of a story, rather than describing a single, completed event.
Why use the preposition su (sulla finestra) rather than a (alla finestra)?
Sulla (on the) emphasizes the physical surface that the rain is hitting. If you used alla (at the), it would sound more like someone standing at the window or deliberately knocking to get attention, such as in the phrase battere alla porta (to knock at the door).
Besides weather, in what other contexts is the verb battere commonly used?
Battere generally means to strike, hit, or beat. You will often see it used for a beating heart (il cuore batte), clapping hands (battere le mani), or typing on a keyboard (battere sulla tastiera). In this sentence, it vividly describes the rhythmic hitting of the heavy rain.

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