The Imperfect
The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly.
I used to walk every day.
Yo caminaba cada día.
The imperfect tense is also used to refer to actions in the past that occurred over an extended period of time.
I used to eat paella frequently.
Yo comía frecuentemente paella.
The imperfect tense is also used to "set the stage" for an event that occurred in the past.
We were coming home when we saw Juan.
Veníamos para casa cuando vimos a Juan.
Actions which are not physical, that is feelings and mental actions, usually use the imperfect tense.
Juan was feeling sick.
Juan estaba enfermo.
The imperfect is frequently associated with phrases that describe the frequency of past actions.
a menudo
often
a veces
sometimes
cada día
every day
cada año
every year
con frecuencia
frequently
de vez en cuando
from time to time
en aquella época
at that time
frecuentemente
frequently
generalmente
usually
muchas veces
many times
mucho
a lot
nunca
never
por un rato
for awhile
siempre
always
tantas veces
so many times
todas las semanas
every week
todos los días
every day
todo el tiempo
all the time
varias veces
several times
Regular forms of the imperfect are formed by adding the following endings to the stem of the verb:
| -ar verbs | example: hablar |
|---|---|
| aba abas aba ábamos abais aban |
hablaba hablabas hablaba hablábamos hablabais hablaban |
| -er verbs, -ir verbs | example: vivir |
|---|---|
| ía ías ía íamos íais ían |
vivía vivías vivía vivíamos vivíais vivían |
Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect:
| ser | ver | ir |
|---|---|---|
| era eras era éramos erais eran |
veía veías veía veíamos veíais veían |
iba ibas iba íbamos ibais iban |
Please send comments or report errors to the webmaster.
© 1997–2008 Study Languages, LLC. All Rights Reserved.