El imperfecto Apuntes de gramática The Imperfect In this presentation, we will look at another way of talking about the past.

Presentación del tema: "El imperfecto Apuntes de gramática The Imperfect In this presentation, we will look at another way of talking about the past."— Transcripción de la presentación:

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2 El imperfecto Apuntes de gramática

3 The Imperfect In this presentation, we will look at another way of talking about the past.

4 Remember this? Weve already learned one way of talking about the past: the preterit. Its used to describe single actions that started and ended in the past. Examples: Tomaron el examen el lunes pasado. Gabriela recibió la mejor nota de todos los estudiantes. El año pasado, fui a Costa Rica de vacaciones. Lo pasé muy bien. Pedro se levantó, fue al baño, y se bañó.

5 What about…? … actions that happen more than once in the past? I used to live in Pennsylvania. Every Christmas the whole family would get together for a big dinner.

6 Or how about…? … actions that started in the past but didnt finish (as far as we know): I was walking to work when I saw an accident. She was tired and hungry.

7 The imperfect These ideas – actions repeated in the past unfinished actions in the past descriptions about the past are expressed using a different verb tense, called the imperfect. Think about it: perfect means complete, so when a past action is incomplete, it is imperfect.

8 Uses of the imperfect Use the imperfect to express actions, conditions, and events that: were in progress at some time in the past (was …ing). occurred repeatedly in the past (used to or would). were anticipated or planned (was going to).

9 OK, what are the forms? Finally! The imperfect tense is probably the easiest form to learn because there are only three irregulars. There are two sets of endings… -AR: add –aba to the base ER/IR: add –ía to the base

10 Some examples, please! hablarcantar hablabacantaba hablabascantabas hablabacantaba hablábamoscantábamos hablabaiscantabais hablabancantaban Easy, huh? Dont forget the accent on the nosotros form!

11 How about for –ER & -IR? comervivir comía vivía comías vivías comía vivía comíamosvivíamos comíaisvivíais comían vivían Same idea… Dont forget the accent on the all the forms!

12 Lets try a few forms! Estar: yo _________ tú _________ ella ________ nosotros _________ vosotros _________ ellos __________

13 Estar… yo estaba tú estabas ella estaba nosotros estábamos vosotros estabais ellos estaban How about volver?

14 Volver… yo volvía tú volvías ella volvía nosotros volvíamos vosotros volvíais ellos volvían Volver is a stem-changing verb in the present, but stem-changing verbs dont change in the imperfect! How about conocer?

15 Conocer… yo conocía tú conocías ella conocía nosotros conocíamos vosotros conocíais ellos conocían Conocer is irregular in the present, but not in the imperfect! How about decir?

16 Decir… yo decía tú decías ella decía nosotros decíamos vosotros decíais ellos decían Decir is stem-changing and irregular in both the present and the preterite, but its regular in the imperfect! How about levantarse?

17 Aburrirse… yo me aburría tú te aburrías ella se aburría nosotros nos aburríamos vosotros os aburríais ellos se aburrían Reflexive verbs work the same as in the present – dont forget to put the reflexive pronoun in front of the verb! How about those three irregulars?

18 S Ser, ir, ver serirver eraibaveía erasibas veías eraiba veía éramosíbamos veíamos eraisibaisveíais eranibanveían Thats all, folks – no other irregular imperfect forms in Spanish.

19 A piece of cake! The forms are that simple! Well look at the differences between the two past forms – the preterite and the imperfect – in a later slide show.

20 Práctica Instrucciones: Llena los espacios con la forma correcta del verbo, usando el imperfecto. 1.Cuando era niña, yo _________ (jugar) con muñecas. 2.De niño, Pedro ___________ (construir) con bloques. 3.Todos los domingos, mi familia y yo ___________ (ir) a la iglesia. 4.Martín y Francisco _________ (ver) películas todos los días. 5.Tú __________ (ser) muy tímido, ¿verdad? 6.Cuando erais estudiantes, vosotros _____________ (preocuparse) antes de un examen. 7.Yo _____________ (comer) sándwiches de atún todos los días. 8.Mis amigos siempre ____________ (beber) jugo cuando eran niños. 9.Nosotros ______________ (correr) en el parque. 10.Juana _______________ (caerse) mucho cuando era niña.

21 Práctica Instrucciones: Translate to Spanish. 1.I used to jump rope every day when I was young. 2.My stepsister used to play with dolls. 3.The twins (f) used to be shy. 4.My nephew used to build with blocks when he was young. 5.You (fam.) used to be scared of the dark (la oscuridad), right? 6.We used to enjoy ourselves at Gabrielas parties. 7.Lauras boyfriend used to get tired in math class. 8.My great-grandfather used to tell jokes.