The Imperfect Tense Another past tense in Spanish
In English In English there are other ways than the simple past tense (I studied) to say that something happened. You can also say I used to study or I was studying. In Spanish these ideas are expressed by the imperfect tense.
In Spanish The imperfect is another past tense in Spanish. It is used to describe something that was not perfected or not completed in the past. You use it to: Talk about something that was happening Talk about something you used to do Say how old someone was Tell what time it was
Regular –ar verbs in the imperfect Regular –ar verbs in the imperfect take these endings Yoabanosotros ábamos Tú abasvosotros abais Él/ella/ud abaellos/ellas/uds aban
For example Estar Estabaestábamos Estabasestabais Estabaestaban
Notice * the yo and él/ella ud forms are the same * the nosotros form has an accent over the first “a”
Fill in the blank with the correct imperfect form of the verb Yo_________(cantar) Él ________(cantar) Nosotros __________(cantar) Tú _________(contar) Ud. ________(contar) Ellos ________(contar)
Regular er/ir verbs in the imperfect Regular er/ir verbs in the imperfect take these endings: Yo íanosotros íamos Tú íasvosotros íais Él/ella/ud íaellos/ellas/uds ían
For example Hacer Hacíahacíamos Hacíashacíais Hacíahacían
Another example Salir Salíasalíamos Salíassalíais Salíasalían
Notice * the yo form and the él/ella/ud forms are the same. ALL forms have an accent mark over the first “ï” in the ending
Fill in the blank with the correct imperfect form of the verb Yo __________(vivir) Él __________(vivir) Nosotros________(vivir) Tú _____________(comer) Ud. ___________(comer) Ellos __________(comer)
Only 3 irregular verbs There are only 3 irregular verbs in the imperfect. Ser-to be Ir- to go Ver-to see
Here’s how to conjugate them in the imperfect SerIrver EraIbaVeía ErasIbasVeías EraIbaVeía ÉramosÍbamosVeíamos EraisIbaisVeíais eranibanveían
Fill in the blanks with the correct imperfect form of the verb Cuándo yo ________ (ser) niño, jugaba con Legos. Mi abuelo y yo _______(ir) a la playa cada día. Ellos _________(ver) una película cada día.