THE IMPERFECT TENSE

The imperfect tense in Spanish is used to

• describe things that used to happen
• places,objects and people (in the past)
• give background description that is secondary
to the main action.
It is formed by taking the stem of the infinitive and adding
the endings as follows

Ar verbs e.g. hablar

Yo hablaba Nosotros hablábamos
Tú hablabas Vosotros hablabais

Él/ella/usted hablaba Ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaban

 Er verbs

E.g. comer
Yo comía Nosotros comíamos
Tú comías Vosotros comíais
Él/ella/usted comía Ellos/ellas/ustedes comían
IR verbs
E.g. vivir
Yo vivía Nosotros vivíamos
Tú vivías Vosotros vivíais
Él/ella/usted vivía Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivían
Guess the good news?
There are only
THREE irregular
verbs in the imperfect!
SER—to be (P)
ERA VER—to see IR—to go
ERAS VEÍA IBA
VEÍAS IBAS
ERA
VEÍA IBA
ÉRAMOS VEÍAMOS
ERAIS ÍBAMOS
VEÍAIS
ERAN VEÍAN
IBAIS
IBAN
 The imperfect

The preterite

The imperfect sets the scene in the past and the

preterite ‘crashes’into it, with a single action.
• Things that used to happen

Cuando era joven me gustaba ir al parque

todos los días.
When I was young I used to like going
to the park every day.
• Places,objects and people (in the past)

La chica era alta,tenía el pelo largo y llevaba gafas

The girl was tall, had long hair and wore glasses
• Background description that is secondary to the
• main action (in the past)

Eran las doce de la noche. Hacía viento y llovía.

El asesino entró en la casa con una pistola.

It was midnight. It was windy and it was raining. The

murderer entered the house with a pistol.