⇒ The Spanish imperfect tense (el imperfecto) is used to describe past habitual actions or to talk about what someone was doing when they were interrupted by something else.
⇒ There are only two sets of endings for regular imperfect verbs in Spanish, one for -ar verbs and one for both -er and -ir verbs.
⇒ To conjugate a regular verb in the imperfect tense in Spanish, simply remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir) and add the imperfect ending that matches the subject.
⇒ Check out the table of regular imperfect endings below:
| Subject | -ar Verbs | -er and -ir Verbs |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -aba | -ía |
| tú | -abas | -ías |
| él, ella, usted | -aba | -ía |
| nosotros | -ábamos | -íamos |
| vosotros | -abais | -íais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | -aban | -ían |
⇒ There are only three verbs with irregular conjugations in the imperfect: ir, ser, and ver. Here they are!
| Subject | ir (to go) | ser (to be) | ver (to see) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | iba | era | veía |
| tú | ibas | eras | veías |
| él, ella, usted | iba | era | veía |
| nosotros | íbamos | éramos | veíamos |
| vosotros | ibais | erais | veíais |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | iban | eran | veían |
⇒ In general, the imperfect is used to talk about past actions, conditions, or events that occurred habitually or repeatedly or that were in progress at a point in the past.
⇒ It is also used to tell time, talk about dates, give a person's age, and describe characteristics, conditions, and feelings in the past. Read on for more about these uses of the imperfect.
⇒ Habitual or repeated actions are those that were done over and over in the past.
⇒ These are often things a person used to or would do.
| Almorzábamos cada día.We used to eat lunch together every day. |
| Todos los sábados las mujeres iban de compras.Every Saturday the ladies would go shopping. |
⇒ It's quite common to see the imperfect used to talk about something that was happening when something else occurred.
⇒ It's also used for actions that continued in the past for an unspecified period of time.
| Iba a clase cuando sonó el teléfono.I was going to class when the telephone rang. |
| Mi papá cocinaba cuando entré a casa.My dad was cooking when I came in the house. |
| A veces le dolían las manos y las piernas.Sometimes her hands and feet ached. |
⇒ The imperfect is used to talk about times and dates in the past.
| Eran las tres de la tarde.It was three o'clock in the afternoon. |
| Era el 9 de mayo.It was May 9th. |
⇒ The imperfect is commonly used to talk about age in the past.
| La niña tenía 4 años.The little girl was 4 years old. |
| Los perros tenían dos años cuando los adopté.The dogs were two years old when I adopted them. |
⇒ The imperfect is used to give descriptions in the past, especially those that set the scene in terms of the senses.
| Mi profesor era alto y tenía el pelo ondulado.My professor was tall and had wavy hair. |
| El campo era bello.The countryside was beautiful. |
| Hacía calor esa noche.It was hot that night. |
| Me sentía feliz con mi trabajo nuevo.I was happy with my new job. |
| Quería mudarme a otro país.I wanted to move to another country. |