The Imperfect Tense: Regular Verbs Courtesy of: grammar/real2grammar/ grammar/real2grammar/ Edited by Profe 2009

Preterite  You have already learned to talk about the past using the preterite tense for actions that began and ended at a definite time.

Preterite  Ana cantó en la fiesta anoche.  Ana sang at the party last night.  (Completed past action.)

Imperfect  The imperfect tense is another way to talk about the past. We use it to describe actions without any indication of their beginning or end.

Imperfect  Ana cantaba.  Ana was singing.  (No indication of beginning or end.)

Imperfect  We use the imperfect to talk about actions that happened repeatedly in the past. In English we often say “used to” or “would” to express this idea.

Imperfect  Generalmente caminaban mucho.  Generally they would walk a lot.

Imperfect  Jugaban con otros niños de la familia.  They used to play with other children in the family.

Imperfect  Expressions such as generalmente, a menudo, muchas veces, todos los días, siempre, and nunca can cue us to use the imperfect.

Imperfect  Here are all the forms of -ar verbs in the imperfect. Notice the accent mark on the nosotros form.

CAMINAR (to walk) Yo caminaba Tú caminabas Él Ella caminaba Ud. Nos. caminábamos Vos. caminabais Ellos Ellas caminaban Uds.

 Since the yo and the Ud./él/ella forms are the same, we often use the subject pronouns to avoid confusion. Imperfect

Let’s do a few more verbs.

PATINAR (to skate) Yo patinaba Tú patinabas Él Ella patinaba Ud. Nos. patinábamos Vos. patinabais Ellos Ellas patinaban Uds.

USAR (to use) Yo usaba Tú usabas Él Ella usaba Ud. Nos. usábamos Vos. usabais Ellos Ellas usaban Uds.

JUGAR (to play) Yo jugaba Tú jugabas Él Ella jugaba Ud. Nos. jugábamos Vos. jugabais Ellos Ellas jugaban Uds.

 Now we will learn the -er/-ir verb endings in the imperfect tense. Imperfect

COMER (to eat) Yo comía Tú comías Él Ella comía Ud. Nos. comíamos Vos. com í ais Ellos Ellas comían Uds.

VIVIR (to live) Yo vivía Tú vivías Él Ella vivía Ud. Nos. vivíamos Vos. viv í ais Ellos Ellas vivían Uds.

Let’s review once more.

PELEARSE (to fight) Yo me peleaba Tú te peleabas Él Ella se peleaba Ud. Nos. nos pele á bamos Vos. os peleabais Ellos Ellas se peleaban Uds.

¡una competici ó n!

Imperfect tense  VERB  hablar  SUBJECT  yo hablaba

Imperfect tense  VERB  mirar  SUBJECT  ellos miraban

Imperfect tense  VERB  caminar  SUBJECT tútú caminabas

Imperfect tense  VERB  estudiar  SUBJECT  ella estudiaba

Imperfect tense  VERB  saltar  SUBJECT  usted saltaba

Imperfect tense  VERB  comer  SUBJECT  ellas com í an

Imperfect tense  VERB  vivir  SUBJECT  Paco viv í a

Imperfect tense  VERB  servir  SUBJECT  yo serv í a

Imperfect tense  VERB  construir  SUBJECT  nosotros constru í amos

Imperfect tense  VERB  escribir  SUBJECT  vosotros escrib í ais

Imperfect tense  VERB  esconderse  SUBJECT  ellos se escond í an

Imperfect tense  VERB  pelearse  SUBJECT  Lola y yo nos pele á bamos

Imperfect tense  VERB  ser  SUBJECT  yo era

Imperfect tense  VERB  ir  SUBJECT tútú ibas

Imperfect tense  VERB  treparse  SUBJECT  Hugo se trepaba

Imperfect tense  VERB  divertirse  SUBJECT  ustedes se divert í an

Imperfect tense  VERB  viajar  SUBJECT  nadie viajaba

Imperfect tense  VERB  comprar  SUBJECT  mi familia compraba

Imperfect tense  VERB  cepillarse  SUBJECT  yo me cepillaba

Imperfect tense  VERB  estudiar  SUBJECT  nosotros estudi á bamos

¡El fin!