10.1 The imperfect tense  You have learned that the preterite is one past tense to express actions and reactions that can be counted a specific number.

Presentación del tema: "10.1 The imperfect tense  You have learned that the preterite is one past tense to express actions and reactions that can be counted a specific number."— Transcripción de la presentación:

1 10.1 The imperfect tense  You have learned that the preterite is one past tense to express actions and reactions that can be counted a specific number of times, including one time implied.  The imperfect is another past tense that is used to express actions that can’t be counted.  Habitual actions: “used to” (would=used to)  Actions in progress: was/were + verbing  The imperfect is also used to express non-action in the past.  circumstances (time; background weather; what existed)  descriptions in the past: (age; physical descriptions; feelings as opposed to reactions) Preterite vs. Imperfect Uses Repaso Rápido

2 10.1 The imperfect tense Formation of the Imperfect  All but three verbs are regular in the imperfect. That means no stem changes.  To form the imperfect, just drop the –ar, -er, and –ir infinitive endings and add the imperfect endings.

3 10.1 The imperfect tense cantarbeberescribir SINGULAR yo cantababebíaescribía tú cantabasbebíasescribías Ud. / él / ella cantababebíaescribía PLURAL nosotros/as cantábamos bebíamosescribíamos vosotros/as cantabaisbebíaisescribíais Uds. / ellos / ellas cantabanbebíanescribían

4 10.1 The imperfect tense ¡ATENCIÓN!  Verbs that end in –er and –ir have the same endings in the imperfect.  All forms of –er and –ir verbs in the imperfect carry an accent mark on the first “í” of the ending.  The first “á” of the nosotros ending for –ar verbs must carry an accent mark.

5 10.1 The imperfect tense You have to memorize only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense! irserver SINGULAR yo ibaeraveía tú ibaserasveías Ud. / él / ella ibaeraveía PLURAL nosotros/as íbamoséramosveíamos vosotros/as ibaiseraisveíais Uds. / ellos / ellas ibaneranveían

6 10.1 The imperfect tense  El imperfecto of “hay” (there is/there are) is había (there was; there were; there used to be). Había un hombre en la iglesia. There was one man in the church. Había muchos hombres en la iglesia. There were many men in the church.  The word “habían” does not exist !

7 10.1 The imperfect tense Special meanings Verb Preterite meaning Imperfect meaning Tenergot had Conocermet knew Saberfound out knew Podermanaged to was able to (could) Querertried to wanted to No quererrefused to didn’t want to

8 10.1 The imperfect tense ¡INTÉNTALO! Indica la forma correcta de cada verbo en el imperfecto. 1. Yo _____ (hablar, correr, vivir, ir) 2. Tú _____ (nadar, beber, venir, ser) 3. Usted _____(caminar, hacer, asistir, ver ) 4. Nosotras _____ (tomar, poner, dormir, ir) 5. Ellos _____(viajar, querer, salir, ser) 6. Ella _____ (dar, tener, pedir, ver)