Imperfect of -er & -ir verbs

2 past tenses In Spanish, there are 2 simple past tenses: preterite imperfect

Preterite used for an action that started and ended at a definite time in the past. ejemplo: I went to the store. I ate a sandwich.

Imperfect used for a habitual or repeated action in the past. Things that happened more than once. The exact time the action began and ended is not important.

ejemplos I used to go to the store. Last year I was eating meat.

To use the imperfect... Find the stem of the infinitive (unconjugated verb) by dropping the last two letters of the infinitive.

ejemplo Hablar (infinitive) Habl (stem)

Next... Put the correct imperfect ending based upon the subject pronoun.

same endings Regular -er and -ir verbs have the same endings in the imperfect tense.

Leer yo leía nosotros leíamos tú leías él/ella/Ud. leía ellos/ellas/Uds. leían

escribir yo escribía nosotros escribíamos tú escribías él/ella/Ud. Escribía ellos/ellas/Uds. escribían

Don’t Forget! Don’t forget to put the accent mark with each ending!

había (there was/there were) The imperfect of “hay” (there is/there are) is “había” (there was/there were).

Singular or Plural You use “había” whether the noun is singular or plural. Ejemplos: Había un concierto. (There was a concert.) Había fuegos artificiales. (There were fireworks.)

Common Words used with Imperfect siempre (always) a veces (sometimes) de vez en cuando (from time to time) con frecuencia (often) a menudo (often) todos los días (every day)

Checking for Understanding

How many past tenses are there in Spanish?

What are the 2 Spanish past tenses? preterite imperfect

How are preterite and imperfect different? Preterite - used for action that began and ended at definite time in past Imperfect - ongoing in past. When it ended is not important.

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Yo _______________ dinero. (tener) tenía

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Nosotros ______________ en Tennessee. (vivir) vivíamos

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. ¿De vez en cuando tú ________________ helado? (comer) comías

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Mis padres siempre ______________ mayonesa en toda la comida. (poner) ponían

Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Isabella _______________ cartas a su abuela. (escribir) escribía

el fin

Hola, I hope you and your students find this slideshow about Imperfect Verbs to be helpful. If you have any questions about the material, please feel free to me at Gracias, Maestra en