Introduction:
The imperfect is not a very descriptive name for a tense.
I prefer to call it the Yabba-Dabba Do! tense because we can use it to speak about Fred Flintstone. Here is an example:
Fred Flintstone lived in Bedrock. He worked in a quarry. He started work at 9am. He was short and fat. His wife Wilma was pretty. Their daughter Pebbles was 2 years old.
At the weekend, he would eat a lot and he would go bowling with his friend Barnie.
Fred Picapiedra vivía en Bedrock. Trabajaba en una cantera. Empezaba a trabajar a las 9 de la mañana. Era bajo y gordo. Su esposa Wilma era bonita. Su hija Pebbles tenía 2 años. Los fines de semana comía mucho y jugaba a los bolos con su amigo Barnie.
The Spanish imperfect tense is used in the following situations:
1. HABITUAL or REPEATED ACTIONS in the past
HOW TO FORM THE IMPERFECT TENSE
Take the stem of the verb (i.e. the part of the verb before -ar, -er or -ir: e.g. tom- for the verb tomar) and add the following endings:
REGULAR VERBS
Subject | -ar Verbs | -er and -ir Verbs |
---|---|---|
yo | -aba | -ía |
tú | -abas | -ías |
él, ella, usted | -aba | -ía |
nosotros | -ábamos | -íamos |
vosotros | -abáis | -íais |
ellos, ellas, ustedes | -aban | -ían |
IRREGULAR VERBS
Subject | IR To Go | SER To be |
---|---|---|
yo | iba | era |
tú | ibas | eras |
él, ella, usted | iba | era |
nosotros | íbamos | éramos |
vosotros | ibais | erais |
ellos, ellas, ustedes | iban | eran |
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The first line is a common verb in Spanish.
The second line is the translation of the verb into English.
The third line is an example of the verb in the imperfect in Spanish.
The fourth line is the translation of the example into English.
Use this lesson to learn how to read simple text in Spanish about interesting facts.