The Imperfect Describing how life used to be

Uses of Imperfect 1. To express how life used to be in the past. Cuando era niña jugaba en el parque todo los días. When I was a child I played in the park every day.

Uses of Imperfect 2. To express repeated or habitual actions. Cuando estaba de vacaciones me levantaba tarde todas las mañanas. When I was en vacations I used to (would) get up late every morning.

Uses of Imperfect These words express usual or repeated actions and are often used with the imperfect. A menudoOften A veces / muchas vecesSometimes / often Con frecuenciaFrecuently De niño/aAs a child Los martesOn Tuesdays Por lo generalIn general Todos los días / mesesEvery day / month

Uses of Imperfect The verb soler (ue) + Infinitive = used to + Infinitive is always used in the Imperfect. It denotes a habitual action in the past and it is frecuently used. Solíamos pasar todos los veranos en la casa de campo. We used to spend every summer in our house in the country.

Uses of Imperfect 3.To express ongoing actions or states. El pasajero leía el libro tranquilamente. The passenger was reading the book quietly.

Uses of Imperfect Estaba + -ando / -iendo is used to emphasize the ongoing nature of the action. Se estaban divirtiendo mucho en la piscina de su casa. They were having fun in the swimming pool of his house.

Uses of Imperfect 4. To state time in the past. Eran las tres de la tarde. It was three o´clock in the afternoon.

Uses of Imperfect 5. To express age. Tenía veinte años cuando viajé a España por primera vez. I was twenty years old when I went to Spain for the first time.

Uses of Imperfect 6. To express two simultaneous actions often joined by mientras. Yo hacía las maletas mientras mi esposo pagaba la cuenta del hotel. I was packing the suitcases while my husband was paying the hotel bill.

Uses of Imperfect 7. To express the intention to do something in the past without regard for whether or not the action took place (iba a + infinitive) Nosotros íbamos a visitar Machu Pichu, pero no tuvimos suficiente tiempo. We were going to visit Machu Pichu, but we did not have enough time.

FORMS 1.The regular verbs. The regular verbs conjugation follows this pattern: -ar verbs end in –aba and –er and –ir verbs end in –ía. They share a single set of endings.

Regular Verbs -ar-er-ir volarconocersalir volabaconocíasalía volabasconocíassalías volabaconocíasalía volábamosconocíamossalíamos Volabaisconocíaissalíais Volabanconocíansalían

2. Irregular verbs There are only three irregular verbs: ser, ir, and ver. irserver ibaeraveía ibaserasveías ibaeraveía íbamoséramosveíamos ibaiseraisveíais ibaneranveían

Exercises Let´s do the exercises in page 447, Cabos Sueltos section.

FIN