Imperfect Tense in Spanish
The imperfect is a past tense for repeated or habitual actions, actions in progress, and descriptions — with no reference to a beginning or an end.
When to use the imperfect
1. Repeated or habitual actions in the past
Cuando era niña, me gustaba jugar con mis hermanas. When I was young, I liked to play with my sisters.
Rodolfo leía todos los días. Rodolfo read every day.
2. Actions that were in progress
Mario cocinaba mientras Tania le leía la receta. Mario was cooking while Tania was reading him the recipe.
Estábamos en la casa. We were in the house.
3. Characteristics and states in the past
Tenía muchos amigos. I had a lot of friends.
Ellos estaban enfermos. They were sick.
Regular imperfect conjugations
Remove the infinitive ending and add the following endings.
| -ar | -er | -ir | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| buscar – to look for | comer – to eat | escribir – to write | |||
| buscaba | buscábamos | comía | comíamos | escribía | escribíamos |
| buscabas | buscabais | comías | comíais | escribías | escribíais |
| buscaba | buscaban | comía | comían | escribía | escribían |
The only three irregular verbs
There are just three irregular conjugations in the imperfect.
| ir | ser | ver | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| to go | to be | to see | |||
| iba | íbamos | era | éramos | veía | veíamos |
| ibas | ibais | eras | erais | veías | veíais |
| iba | iban | era | eran | veía | veían |
Next: compare it with the preterite tense and learn the preterite vs imperfect distinction.
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