The Spanish Imperfect Tense - El imperfecto

In Spanish there are different tenses to talk about the past, one of them is the imperfect tense. We use it to describe characteristics of an event, the time in the past, the appearance of a person or thing in the past, habits or routines in the past, contrast between the past and now and periods of time in the past. It is important to use the preterite and the imperfect accurately, as they are often confused. Read these notes about the imperfect tense and then practice with the exercise below.

How is the Spanish imperfect tense formed?

La forma: ¿Cómo formar el imperfecto?

Regular verbs/ Verbos regulares

	Hablar	Comer	Vivir
Yo	hablaba	comía	vivía
Tú	hablabas	comías	vivías
Él, Ella, Usted	hablaba	comía	vivía
Nosotros/as	hablábamos	comíamos	vivíamos
Vosotros/as	hablábais	comíais	vivíais
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes	hablaban	comían	vivían

Irregular verbs

There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense.

Verbos irregulares: Solo hay tres verbos irregulares en este tiempo.

	Ir	Ser	Ver
Yo	iba	era	veía
Tú	ibas	eras	veías
Él, Ella, Usted	iba	era	veía
Nosotros/as	íbamos	éramos	veíamos
Vosotros/as	ibais	erais	veíais
Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes	iban	eran	veían

Using the Spanish Imperfect Tense

Uso del imperfecto

1. Description of characteristics of an event or fact
   - Descripción de características de un evento o hecho:

• Hacía viento
    It was windy.
• Era tarde
    It was late.

2. The time in the past
   - La hora en el pasado:

• Eran las dos.
    It was two o’clock.

3.Physical description of a person or animal in the past
   - Descripción física de una persona o animal en el pasado:

• ¿Cómo era? Era alto y tenía los ojos azules
    What was he like? He was tall and he had blue eyes.

4. Description of objects in the past
   - Descripción de objetos en el pasado:

• La habitación estaba oscura, los libros estaban por todas partes.
    The room was dark, the books were everywhere.

5. To describe habits in the past, routines in a life period.
   - Describir acciones habituales en el pasado, rutinas en un período de la vida.

• Cuando era niña, todos los días iba al colegio muy temprano.
  When I was a girl, I went to school early every day.
• Cuando vivía en Boston veía la vida de otro modo.
  When I lived in London, I saw life in a different way.

6. To express contrast between present and past states.
   - Expresar contraste entre el estado actual y estados anteriores.

• Antes estudiaba mucho, ahora no hago mucho.
  In the past I studied a lot; now I don't do much.

7. Periods of life.
   - Etapas de la vida.

• Cuando tenía 15 años.
  When I was 15.
• Cuando era niño.
  When I was a child.

8. To describe moods, conditions or states of being in the past.
   - Describir el ánimo, condiciones o estados del pasado.

• Laura estaba muy cansada anoche.
  Laura was really tired yesterday.
• La puerta del coche estaba abierta.
  The car door was open.

9. When an action is interrupted by another action in the preterite.

• Mi hermana miraba la tele cuando llegué a casa.
  My sister was watching TV when I arrived home.
• Julio descansaba cuando tocaron la puerta.
  Julio was resting when they knocked the door.

10. To describe two actions happening at the same time in the past. We use the word “mientras” to mean “while”.

• María lavaba los platos mientras su esposo preparaba el café.
  María was washing the dishes while her husband was preparing coffee.
• Los niños jugaban en el parque mientras las madres conversaban.
  The children were playing in the park while their mothers were chatting.

The imperfect progressive, used in combination with the preterite, describes a past action in progress that is interrupted by another action. We use the preterite for the action that interrupts and the imperfect progressive for the action in progress. We form this tense with the verb “estar” in the imperfect and the gerund of the action we want to mention.

• María se estaba bañando cuando su amiga golpeó la puerta.
  María was having a shower when her friend knocked the door.
• Los niños estaban jugando en la plaza cuando comenzó a llover.
  The children were playing in the park when it started to rain.

You may also wish to review the Spanish preterite.

After reading these notes on the Imperfect tense and reviewing the preterite, complete the following exercise with the correct tense and form.

Interactive Exercises

Exercise 1: Complete the blanks with the correct form of the verbs in the preterite or the imperfect.

Completa los espacios con la forma correcta de los verbos en el pretérito o imperfecto

 

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