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The imperfect tense is formed by dropping the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and adding the correct imperfect endings to the infinitive stem. |
|---|
| There are no stem changes in the imperfect. The nosotros of -ar verbs and all -er and -ir forms have accent marks. Only three verbs have irregular forms in the imperfect; ir, ser, and ver |
| ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban |
| ser: era, eras, era, eramos, erais, eran |
| ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían |
Uses of the Imperfect tense |
|
|---|---|
| It is most often used to describe on-going actions in the past. It is the equivalent to the imperfect progressive. | |
| Elena hablaba con Carlos. | - Elena was speaking with Carlos. |
| Elena estaba hablando con Carlos. | - Elena was speaking with Carlos. |
| Mientras José cantaba, Elena bailaba. | - While José sang (was singing), Elena was dancing. |
| These on-going actions include habitual actions and descriptions of long-standing conditions. | |
| Luis vivía con su tía. | - Luis was living with his aunt. |
| Ella venía tarde. | - She used to/would come late. |
| Había dos teatros. | - There were two theaters. |
| It is used to describe a state of mind, a physical state, and to express the time of day in the past. | |
| Era una noche oscurra. | - It was a dark night. |
| Quería ir al cine, pero me sentía deprimido. | - I wanted to go to the movies, but I felt depressed. |
| Era la una de la mañana. | - It was one o'clock in the morning. |
| Cuando tenía doce años, yo era muy exigente. | - When I was 12 years old, I was very demanding. |
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