The Imperfect Tense: Regular Verbs Courtesy of: grammar/real2grammar/ grammar/real2grammar/ Edited by Sra. Toth 2015
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. They are incomplete or “continuing”.
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 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.
OLVIDAR (to forget) Yo olvidaba Tú olvidabas Él Ella olvidaba Ud. Nos. olvidábamos Vos. olvidabais Ellos Ellas olvidaban Uds.
TOMAR (to take, drink, eat) Yo tomaba Tú tomabas Él Ella tomaba Ud. Nos. tomábamos Vos. tomabais Ellos Ellas tomaban Uds.
LASTIMARSE (to injure) Yome lastimaba Túte lastimabas Él Ella se lastimaba Ud. Nos. nos lastimábamos Vos. os lastimabais Ellos Ellas se lastimaban Uds.
Now we will learn the -er/-ir verb endings in the imperfect tense (they are the same). Imperfect
CAERSE (to fall [down]) Yo me caía Tú te caías Él Ella se caía Ud. Nos. nos caíamos Vos. os caíais Ellos Ellas se caían Uds.
SUFRIR (to suffer) Yo sufría Tú sufrías Él Ella sufría Ud. Nos. sufríamos Vos. sufríais Ellos Ellas sufrían Uds.
TOSER (to cough) Yo tosía Tú tosías Él Ella tosía Ud. Nos. tosíamos Vos. tosíais Ellos Ellas tosían Uds.
There are only 3 (3!!) irregular verbs in the preterite: ir (to go), ser (to be, lasting/permanent), and ver (to see) IRREGULARS!
IR (to go) Yo iba Tú ibas Él Ella iba Ud. Nos. íbamos Vos. ibais Ellos Ellas iban Uds.
SER (to be, lasting/permanent) Yo era Tú eras Él Ella era Ud. Nos. éramos Vos. erais Ellos Ellas eran Uds.
VER (to see) Yo veía Tú veías Él Ella veía Ud. Nos. veíamos Vos. veíais Ellos Ellas veían Uds.
¡Practicamos!
Imperfect tense VERB hablar SUBJECT yo hablaba
Imperfect tense VERB mirar SUBJECT ellos miraban
Imperfect tense VERB estordunar SUBJECT tútú estordunabas
Imperfect tense VERB estudiar SUBJECT ella estudiaba
Imperfect tense VERB recetar SUBJECT usted recetaba
Imperfect tense VERB comer SUBJECT ellas comían
Imperfect tense VERB ir SUBJECT vosotros ibais
Imperfect tense VERB vivir SUBJECT Paco vivía
Imperfect tense VERB tener SUBJECT yo tenía
Imperfect tense VERB toser SUBJECT ustedes tosían
Imperfect tense VERB romperse SUBJECT nosotros nos rompíamos
Imperfect tense VERB ser SUBJECT yo era
Imperfect tense VERB escribir SUBJECT vosotros escrib í ais
Imperfect tense VERB lastimarse SUBJECT Lola y yo nos lastim á bamos
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
Imperfect tense VERB ver SUBJECT tú veías
Imperfect tense VERB tener SUBJECT vosotros teníais
¡El fin!