Regular verbs. The imperfect tense is quite easy to form and has very few irregular parts. There are only two sets of endings to learn and only three irregular verbs. Formation of the imperfect tense: Take the following steps: 1. Take the infinitive of the verb you wish to use. 2. Take off the -AR, -ER or -IR. 3. Add the endings. -AR endings: -aba -abas -aba -ábamos -abais -aban. -ER / IR endings -ía -ías -ía -íamos -íais -ían. The imperfect tense 8

All regular -AR verbs are formed in the following way: HABLAR= to speak / talk habl aba abas aba abais ábamos aban The imperfect tense 9 I talked, I was talking, I used to talk. You talked, you were talking, you used to talk. He / she / it talked, was talking, used to talk. We talked, we were talking, we used to talk. You talked, you were talking, you used to talk. They talked, they were talking, they used to talk

All regular -ER and -IR verbs are formed in the following way. COMER = to eat com ía ías ía íamos ían íais The imperfect tense 10 I ate, I was eating, I used to eat. You ate, you were eating, you used to eat. He / she / it ate, was eating, used to eat. We ate, we were eating, we used to eat. You ate, you were eating, you used to eat. They ate, they were eating, they used to eat.

ía ías ía íamos íais ían abr ABRIR= to open The imperfect tense 11 I opened, was opening, I used to open You opened, were opening, you used to open. He / she/ it / opened, was opening, used to open. We opened, we were opening, we used to open. You opened, you were opening, you used to open. They opened, they were opening, they used to open.

The good news about the imperfect tense is that all of the verbs except three are regular. The three irregular verbs are SER, IR and VER. VER = to see veía I saw, used to see. veías you saw, used to see. veía he / she / it saw, used to see. veíamos we saw, used to see. veíais you saw, used to see. veían they saw, used to see. leer = to read also does this. leía I read, used to read The imperfect tense 12 SER = to be era I was, used to be. eras you were, used to be. era he / she / it was, used to be. éramos we were, used to be. erais you were, used to be. eran they were, used to be. IR = to go iba I went, used to go. ibas you went, used to go. iba he / she / it went, used to go. íbamos we went, used to go. ibais you went, used to go. iban they went, used to go.

To summarise: The imperfect tense is used for descriptions in the past and the meaning of the imperfect tense can change according to context and use. (Yo) Iba a Madrid. Could mean: 1.I went to Madrid. Repeated action. 2.I was going to Madrid. Action begun in past and probably going to be interrupted by another event. 3.I used to go to Madrid. Frequent action 4.I would go to Madrid. Frequent action The imperfect tense 13

1 Yo (ir) ___a menudo al centro de la ciudad. 2 Tú no (levantarse) ___________ nunca antes de las doce. 3 Ana (telefonear) __________ a su madre cada día. 4Yo (comer) _____ cuando el teléfono sonó. 5Nosotros (jugar) _________ al fútbol en el parque. 6Ustedes (comer) _______ ensalada con todas las comidas. 7Ella (bañarse) _________ cuando alguien llamó a la puerta. 8El niño siempre (abrir) ____ la nevera. 9Roberto nunca (escoger) ______ el mismo libro que María. 10Yo (leer) ___ el mapa mientras mi padre (conducir)________. 11 (Empezar) _________ a nevar cuando nos pusimos en camino. 12 Nosotros siempre (llegar) _________ temprano. Change the verb in brackets to the imperfect tense. The imperfect tense 14 iba te levantabas telefoneaba comía jugábamos comían se bañaba abría escogía leíaconducía Empezaba llegábamos menu