Talk About the Past Using the Imperfect (el imperfecto) Sra. Lear Español 2 Unidad 2 Etapa 1
You’ve already learned to use the preterite tense to speak about completed actions in the past. jugar-to play correr- to run jugué jugamos jugaste jugasteis jugó jugaron corrí corrimos corriste corristeis corrió corrieron -ar verbs -er/ir verbs
Now you will learn about another past tense called the imperfect. You can use the imperfect in the following ways: to speak about background events in a story. to talk about something you used to do as a matter of habit (things you used to do) to speak about how old someone was to say what time it was
Generally speaking, the imperfect is used for actions in the past that are not seen as completed. Use of the imperfect tense implies that the past action did not have a definite beginning or a definite end. Los niños jugaban todos los días. The kids would play everyday. (no definite beginning or end)
Conjugating Imperfect Verbs -remove the –ar, -er or –ir and add the appropriate ending -ar verbs -er, -ir verbs -aba -ábamos -abas -abais -aban -ía -íamos -ías -íais -ían
Here are the only verbs that don’t follow the pattern. era éramos eras erais eran iba íbamos ibas ibais iban ser-to be ir-to go veía veíamos veías veíais veían ver-to see
Todos cambiamos Tell what the people used to do. p.117 ACT 11 Todos cambiamos Tell what the people used to do. modelo: No hablo en situaciones nuevas. Antes, hablaba en situaciones nuevas. 1. Mi abuela no trepa a los árboles. Antes, mi abuela trepaba a los árboles. 2. Mis hermanos y yo no nos peleamos. Antes, mis hermanos y yo nos peleábamos.