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Spanish 2 Unit 4: The Imperfect

This unit teaches the imperfect, the past tense for habits, descriptions and actions in progress.

Covers: Regular -ar imperfect endings, Regular -er and -ir imperfect endings, Irregular ser, ir and ver, Habitual actions and used to, Description: time, age, weather, emotions, Ongoing and simultaneous actions with mientras, Había and iba a + infinitive

Study guide

The imperfect (el imperfecto) is the second simple past tense in Spanish. Where the preterite reports completed events, the imperfect describes the past as ongoing, repeated or as background. It is also the easiest past tense to conjugate. Regular -ar verbs take -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban (hablaba, hablábamos). Regular -er and -ir verbs share -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían (comía, vivíamos). Every -er/-ir form carries an accent on the í, while among the -ar forms only nosotros has an accent. There are no stem changes in the imperfect, so jugar gives jugaba and dormir gives dormía. Notice that yo and él/ella/usted forms are identical, so you may add a subject pronoun for clarity.

Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect, and you must memorize them. Ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran. Ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban. Ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían (ver keeps its e). The imperfect of hay (from haber) is había, and like hay it stays singular even with a plural noun: había muchos estudiantes. That is the whole list; every other verb, even ones that are very irregular in the preterite like tener, hacer and decir, is perfectly regular in the imperfect: tenía, hacía, decía.

Use the imperfect for habitual or repeated past actions, which English often expresses with used to or would: de niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días (as a child, I used to play soccer every day). Time expressions that signal habits include siempre, a menudo, con frecuencia, todos los días, cada verano, los lunes, de niño and cuando era joven. Be careful with English would: if it means used to, use the imperfect (visitaba a mis abuelos), but if it is hypothetical, Spanish uses the conditional (visitaría). The imperfect also describes actions that were in progress at a moment in the past: a las nueve, yo estudiaba (at nine, I was studying).

The imperfect is the tense of description. Use it for telling time (eran las tres, era la una), age (tenía quince años), weather (hacía sol, llovía), physical and emotional states (estaba cansada, tenía miedo), and characteristics of people, places and things (la casa era grande). It also expresses two ongoing actions happening at the same time, usually joined by mientras: mientras yo cocinaba, él ponía la mesa. Finally, iba a + infinitive means was going to, and it often describes a plan that did not happen: iba a estudiar, pero me dormí. Think of the imperfect as the camera showing the scene, and the preterite as the events that happen within it.

Key ideas

• The imperfect describes habits, ongoing actions and background in the past.
• -ar verbs use -aba; -er and -ir verbs use -ía.
• Only ser, ir and ver are irregular in the imperfect.
• There are no stem changes in the imperfect.
• Time, age, weather and emotions in the past use the imperfect.
• Mientras often joins two ongoing past actions, both in the imperfect.
• English used to and habitual would translate as the imperfect.

Formulas and rules

Common mistakes

• Making tener, hacer or decir irregular in the imperfect, as in tuvía.
• Writing habían muchas personas instead of había muchas personas.
• Using the conditional for habitual would, as in visitaría instead of visitaba.
• Forgetting the accent in íbamos, éramos or comíamos.
• Using the preterite for age or time, as in tuve diez años or fueron las tres.

Before the test, make sure you can

• Conjugate regular -ar, -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect with accents.
• Conjugate ser, ir and ver in the imperfect.
• Use the imperfect for habitual past actions and translate used to.
• Describe time, age, weather and emotions in the past.
• Use mientras with two ongoing actions.
• Use había correctly with singular and plural nouns.
• Express a past intention with iba a + infinitive.

Words to know

siempre

always

a menudo

often

con frecuencia

frequently

a veces

sometimes

todos los días

every day

cada verano

every summer

de niño

as a child

la niñez

childhood

el juguete

toy

los dibujos animados

cartoons

el vecino

neighbor

portarse bien

to behave well

tímido

shy

hacía sol

it was sunny

hacía frío

it was cold

llovía

it was raining

nevaba

it was snowing

mientras

while

había

there was, there were

Sample practice questions

30 more questions like these, from level 1 to 5, are in the practice set.