CONTENT
  1. Reviewing the Uses of the Imperfect Tense
  2. Regular Verb Conjugation
  3. Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect

All tenses have irregular verb forms, but the imperfecto is one of the easiest tenses to learn since there are very few of them.

Spanish

English

Cuando era niña iba a nadar al lago todos los fines de semana.

When I was a little girl I would go swimming in the lake every weekend.

Reviewing the Uses of the Imperfect Tense

Rule 1. The imperfect is used to talk about habitual actions and to describe emotions, conditions, or ongoing situations where the time frame is not important. If it were important, you would use the preterite.

Spanish

English

Oscar tenía 11 años cuando iba a clases de Ballet.

Oscar was 11 years old when he attended ballet classes.

Regular Verb Conjugation

Rule 2. The following endings are used to conjugate regular verbs in the imperfect:

Subject Pronouns-ar ending verbs such as hablar-er and -ir ending vebs such as escribir
yo hablaba escribía
tú hablabas escribías
él, ella, usted hablaba escribía
nosotros, nosotras hablábamos escribíamos
vosotros, vosotras hablabais escribíais
ellos, ellas, ustedes hablaban escribían
Subject Pronouns-ar ending verbs such as hablar-er and -ir ending vebs such as escribir
yo hablaba escribía
tú hablabas escribías
él, ella, usted hablaba escribía
nosotros, nosotras hablábamos escribíamos
vosotros, vosotras hablabais escribíais
ellos, ellas, ustedes hablaban escribían

Note how the first person (yo) and the third person (él, ella, and usted) singular are identical. So, it is important that you pay attention to the context if the subject is not specified.

Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect

Rule 3. As mentioned, the imperfect has the easiest irregularities to learn, because there are only three. These are ser, ir, and ver.

Subject PronounsSerVerIr
yo era veía iba
tú eras veías ibas
él, ella, usted era veía iba
nosotros, nosotras éramos veíamos íbamos
vosotros, vosotras erais veíais ibais
ellos, ellas, ustedes eran veían iban
Subject PronounsSerVerIr
yo era veía iba
tú eras veías ibas
él, ella, usted era veía iba
nosotros, nosotras éramos veíamos íbamos
vosotros, vosotras erais veíais ibais
ellos, ellas, ustedes eran veían iban

Spanish

English

Cuando era niño, iba al cine y veía películas de acción regularmente.

When I was a kid, I went to the movies and watched action films regularly.

Quiz

1/3

Cuando __________ niña, salía a jugar mucho.

0

correct answers.