Pretérito Imperfecto in Spanish
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The imperfect tense (Spanish: el pretérito imperfecto or imperfecto) is in addition to the pretérito perfecto simple and pretérito perfecto compuesto, another tense to talk about the past. It is used in descriptions and to say what was happening or used to happen.
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The conjugation of the imperfecto is much less complex than the other past tense forms.
The imperfect of regular verbs is formed by dropping the endings -ar, -er, -ir of the infinitive form and adding the following endings:
-ar verbs conjugated | -er verbs conjugated | -ir verbs conjugated | |
---|---|---|---|
Pronouns | Hablar (to speak) | Comer (to eat) | Vivir (to live) |
Yo | hablaba | comía | vivía |
Tú | hablabas | comías | vivías |
Él / Ella | hablaba | comía | vivía |
Nosotros/-as | hablábamos | comíamos | vivíamos |
Vosotros/-as | hablabais | comíais | vivíais |
Ellos/ellas/Ustedes | hablaban | comían | vivían |
Attention: Note, that –er and –ir verbs share the same endings and all forms have a written accent mark.
It is easy to remember that there are only three verbs with irregular conjugations in the imperfect: ir, ser and ver
Pronouns | Ir (to go) |
---|---|
Yo | iba |
Tú | ibas |
Él / Ella | iba |
Nosotros/-as | íbamos |
Vosotros/-as | ibais |
Ellos/ellas/Ustedes | iban |
Pronouns | Ser (to be) |
---|---|
Yo | era |
Tú | eras |
Él / Ella | era |
Nosotros/-as | éramos |
Vosotros/-as | erais |
Ellos/ellas/Ustedes | eran |
Pronouns | ver (to see) |
---|---|
Yo | veía |
Tú | veías |
Él / Ella | veía |
Nosotros/-as | veíamos |
Vosotros/-as | veíais |
Ellos/ellas/Ustedes | veían |
To describe continuing, ongoing actions in the past.
To say what used to happen or what you used to do regularly in the past.
To describe people or states of indefinite duration in the past.
To describe simultaneous actions in the past.
To describe what was happening or what the situation was when something else took place.
These expressions indicated the use of imperfecto. Most of the words highlight that the action takes place regularly or is a habit.
Spanish | English |
---|---|
antes | before |
mientras | while |
de joven / de niño | when I was young / a child |
normalmente | usually |
siempre | always |
nunca | never |
a menudo | often |
algunas veces | sometimes |
casi nunca | hardly ever |
de vez en cuando | from time to time |
todos los días/años | every day/year |
“Garrapata” era un hombre feroz y barrigudo. Tenía una pata de palo y un garfio de acero en vez de mano. Era el terror de Londres. Tenía la nariz gorda y colorada como una berenjena.. Le faltaba media oreja y llevaba un parche negro para taparse un ojo de cristal. Por lo demás, no era demasiado feo.
Extraído de: El Pirata Garrapata. Juan Muñoz Martín
"Garrapata" was a ferocious and pot-bellied man. He had a wooden leg and a steel hook instead of a hand. It was the terror of London. His nose was big and red like an eggplant. He had half an ear and wore a black patch to cover his glass eye. Apart from that, it was not too ugly.
From El Pirata Garrapata. Juan Muñoz Martín
Example:
A él le gustaba ir al cine. (gustar- él)
(He liked going to the cinema)
1. Antes (comer- yo) poco, (estar - yo) bastante delgado.
(Before, I used to eat very little, I was pretty skinny).
2. No me nada dibujar. (gustar- yo)
(I didn´t like drawing at all)
3. todas los días. (salir- nosotros)
(We used to go out every day)
4. Carla y mi hermano todo el tiempo. (jugar-ellos)
(Carla and my brother used to play all the time)
5. De pequeño muy bien. (cantar-él)
(When he was little he used to sing very well)
6. Mi madre todas las noches antes de dormir. (leer-él)
(My mum used to read every night before going to bed)
7. Mi abuela al lado de mi casa. (vivir-ella)
(My grandma used to live close to my house)
8. Mi monitora de natación genial. (ser-ella)
(My swimming instructor was awesome)
9. Él una paella todos los domingos. (hacer- él)
(He used to cook paella every Sunday)
Example:
Cada día llamaba a su madre. (llamar- ella)
(She used to call her mother every day)
1. Sara siempre a su hermana después del colegio. (esperar-ella)
(Sara always waited for her sister after school).
2. Carlos siempre la música demasiado fuerte. (poner-él)
(Carlos always put the music too loud)
3. El perro a los vecinos cuando por la casa. (molestar-él)
(The dog disturbed the neighbours when he run around the house).
4. No desde hace 15 años. (nevar)
(It didn’t snow since 15 years ago).
5. Nunca a comer a ese restaurante. (ir, nosotros)
(We never went to have lunch in that restaurant)
6. Lo único que sé es que hermanos. (ser, ellos)
(The only thing I know is that they were brothers)
7. Recuerdo que mis vecinos las llaves en la puerta. (dejar-ellos)
(I remember that my neighbours used to leave the keys on the door).
8. María y yo mejores amigas en el colegio. (ser-nosotras)
(María and I were best Friends at school).
9. mucho en el norte de España. (llover)
(It used to rain a lot in the north of Spain).
10. Tú nunca a la playa en verano. (Tú- ir)
(You never used to go to the beach in summer).
Example:
Vivía en un piso en Madrid. (ella-vivir)
(She lived in a flat in Madrid)
1. calor. (hacer)
(It was hot)
2. No mucho dinero (tener-nosotros)
(We didn’t have much money)
3. hambre. (tener-yo)
(I was hungry)
4. café todos los martes. (tomar- nosotras)
(We used to have cofee every Tuesday)
5. Me caí cuando la calle. (cruzar- yo)
(I fell over when I was crossing the street)
6. Carlota la televisión cuando sonó el teléfono. (mirar- ella)
(Carlota was watching television when the telephone rang)
7. inglés y francés. (ella- hablar)
(She spoke English and French)
8. español. (estudiar-nosotros)
(We studied Spanish)
9. A veces, en casa de Pepa. (comer- nosotros)
(We sometimes used to eat at Pepa’s)
10. Cuando llegó el médico ya se mejor. (ellos- sentir)
(They were already feeling better when the doctor arrived)
Example:
A él le gustaba ir al cine. (gustar- él)
(He liked going to the cinema)
1. Antes (comer- yo) poco, (estar - yo) bastante delgado.
(Before, I used to eat very little, I was pretty skinny).
2. No me nada dibujar. (gustar- yo)
(I didn´t like drawing at all)
3. todas los días. (salir- nosotros)
(We used to go out every day)
4. Carla y mi hermano todo el tiempo. (jugar-ellos)
(Carla and my brother used to play all the time)
5. De pequeño muy bien. (cantar-él)
(When he was little he used to sing very well)
6. Mi madre todas las noches antes de dormir. (leer-él)
(My mum used to read every night before going to bed)
7. Mi abuela al lado de mi casa. (vivir-ella)
(My grandma used to live close to my house)
8. Mi monitora de natación genial. (ser-ella)
(My swimming instructor was awesome)
9. Él una paella todos los domingos. (hacer- él)
(He used to cook paella every Sunday)
Example:
Cada día llamaba a su madre. (llamar- ella)
(She used to call her mother every day)
1. Sara siempre a su hermana después del colegio. (esperar-ella)
(Sara always waited for her sister after school).
2. Carlos siempre la música demasiado fuerte. (poner-él)
(Carlos always put the music too loud)
3. El perro a los vecinos cuando por la casa. (molestar-él)
(The dog disturbed the neighbours when he run around the house).
4. No desde hace 15 años. (nevar)
(It didn’t snow since 15 years ago).
5. Nunca a comer a ese restaurante. (ir, nosotros)
(We never went to have lunch in that restaurant)
6. Lo único que sé es que hermanos. (ser, ellos)
(The only thing I know is that they were brothers)
7. Recuerdo que mis vecinos las llaves en la puerta. (dejar-ellos)
(I remember that my neighbours used to leave the keys on the door).
8. María y yo mejores amigas en el colegio. (ser-nosotras)
(María and I were best Friends at school).
9. mucho en el norte de España. (llover)
(It used to rain a lot in the north of Spain).
10. Tú nunca a la playa en verano. (Tú- ir)
(You never used to go to the beach in summer).
Example:
Vivía en un piso en Madrid. (ella-vivir)
(She lived in a flat in Madrid)
1. calor. (hacer)
(It was hot)
2. No mucho dinero (tener-nosotros)
(We didn’t have much money)
3. hambre. (tener-yo)
(I was hungry)
4. café todos los martes. (tomar- nosotras)
(We used to have cofee every Tuesday)
5. Me caí cuando la calle. (cruzar- yo)
(I fell over when I was crossing the street)
6. Carlota la televisión cuando sonó el teléfono. (mirar- ella)
(Carlota was watching television when the telephone rang)
7. inglés y francés. (ella- hablar)
(She spoke English and French)
8. español. (estudiar-nosotros)
(We studied Spanish)
9. A veces, en casa de Pepa. (comer- nosotros)
(We sometimes used to eat at Pepa’s)
10. Cuando llegó el médico ya se mejor. (ellos- sentir)
(They were already feeling better when the doctor arrived)
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This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
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This review was written by a coLanguage team member during a manual screening of this teacher profile.
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