The imperfect indicative is a tense that is used to talk about the past, but it can also help us to sound more polite.
Spanish
English
Hablaba para preguntar si tienen habitaciones.
I was speaking to ask if they have rooms.
The Imperfect Indicative - Form and Use
Before we begin, it is important to remember how the imperfect is formed and used.
Rule 1. As you may recall, the imperfect is used to talk about recurring actions in the past. In stories where the preterite is also used, it is used to give information about the setting or background information.
Rule 2. It is formed by adding the following endings.
- For -ar ending verbs, add:
| Subject Pronoun | Hablar |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaba |
| tú | hablabas |
| él, ella, usted | hablaba |
| nosotros, nosotras | hablábamos |
| vosotros, vosotras | hablarais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hablaban |
| Subject Pronoun | Hablar |
|---|---|
| yo | hablaba |
| tú | hablabas |
| él, ella, usted | hablaba |
| nosotros, nosotras | hablábamos |
| vosotros, vosotras | hablarais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | hablaban |
- For -er and -ir ending verbs, add:
| Subject Pronoun | comer | vivir |
|---|---|---|
| yo | comía | vivía |
| tú | comías | vivías |
| él, ella, usted | comía | vivía |
| nosotros, nosotras | comíamos | vivíamos |
| vosotros, vosotras | comíais | vivíais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | comían | vivían |
| Subject Pronoun | comer | vivir |
|---|---|---|
| yo | comía | vivía |
| tú | comías | vivías |
| él, ella, usted | comía | vivía |
| nosotros, nosotras | comíamos | vivíamos |
| vosotros, vosotras | comíais | vivíais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | comían | vivían |
How to Use it to Enhance Politeness?
Rule 2. It is very common to hear Spanish speakers use the imperfect in customer service situations. It is a neutral (i.e. not formal or informal) way of sounding polite. For this reason, we are going to present you with some sentences that exemplify how you can use it.
All examples will be conjugated in the first person singular (yo), but remember that you can always conjugate the verbs according to what you want to express.
1. llamaba + para + infinitive
Spanish
English
Llamaba para hacer una reservación.
I was calling to make a reservation.
This is one of the easiest phrases, because it does not require any conjugation. You just need to add the information needed (if any) after the infinitive.
2. Quería saber si + verb
Spanish
English
Quería saber si tienen habitaciones libres.
I would like to know if you have rooms available.
Anything after the phrase can be conjugated in any tense you wish. In this case, for example, the present indicative was used for the second part of the sentence.
3. Me preguntaba si + verb
Spanish
English
Me preguntaba si tienen menú vegetariano.
I was wondering if you have a vegetarian menu.
Quiz
1/3
____ saber si su lugar acepta mascotas. (yo)
0
correct answers.