4 Trigger words that signal IMPERFECT Tense PRETERITO IMPERFECTO "USED TO"”

Question 1

Of the main three Spanish past tenses, the Spanish past imperfect can be the most problematic for Spanish students.

Answer 1

This is because the past imperfect tense, aiso known as the PRETÉRITO IMPERFECTO, is used for setting the scene, talking about habitual behaviour in the past, for descriptions of things and people, and in combination with the pretérito indefinido to accurately describe the placement of events.

Question 2

Notice the arrows for the imperfect tense. These arrows signify that actions that occur in the past imperfect tense don’t have a well defined start and end time.

Answer 2

Typically the English phrase ‘I used to…’ will call for the past imperfect when translated to Spanish.

Question 3

If you said ‘I used to shop a lot’, then the question would be when did the shopping habit start and when did it stop?

Answer 3

All you know from the statement is that the shopping habit occurred for an undefined timeframe. It could have been a problem that lasted for months, years, or decades. This means that the Spanish past imperfect tense should be used in this context.

Question 4

The ‘phrase triggers’ below imply an undefined start and end time for a past event, therefore naturally triggering the use of the Spanish past

Answer 4

The other phrase that you could add to the end of almost all of the examples is “ya no” which is ‘now (no/not)’. For example, ‘we used to go to the swimming pool a lot, now we don’t’.

Question 5

1. ALWAYS - SIEMPRE

Answer 5

If you wanted to talk about something that ‘always’ used to happen, you will need to use the past imperfect.

Question 6

We always used to watch television after dinner.

Answer 6

Siempre veíamos la televisión después de la cena.

Question 7

I always used to go to bed early during the week.

Answer 7

Siempre me acostaba temprano entre semana.

Siempre me acostaba temprano durante la semana.

Question 8

2. ALMOST ALWAYS — CASI SIEMPRE

Answer 8

Closely related to the first phrase trigger, this time you are talking about things that happened ‘almost always’.

Question 9

They almost always arrived late to work.

Answer 9

Ellos casi siempre llegaban tarde al trabajo.

Question 10

She almost always used to call me when I was busy.

Answer 10

Ella casi siempre me llamaba cuando estaba ocupada.

Question 11

3. EVERYDAY, – EVERY WEEK. – EVERY MONTH,

TODOS LOS DIAS, –TODAS LAS SEMANAS, –TODOS LOS MESES…

Answer 11

This third phrase trigger is again related to the idea of always, and doesn’t give an indication of start and end moments for the action.

Question 12

I used to do exercise everyday.

Answer 12

Hacía ejercicio todos los días.

Question 13

My friends and I used to eat dinner every friday night in town.

Answer 13

Mis amigos y yo cenábamos cada viernes por la noche en el centro.

Question 14

4. USUALLY – NORMALMENTE

Answer 14

You could also talk about things you usually used to do.

Question 15

I usually used to practice my Spanish before lunch.

Answer 15

Normalmente practicaba mi español antes del almuerzo.

Question 16

Did you normally /(usually) – spend a lot of time with your friends from school?

Answer 16

¿Normalmente pasabas mucho tiempo con tus amigos del colegio?

Question 17

5. FREQUENTLY – CON FREQUENCIA

Answer 17

Similarly you can mention the things you used to do frequently.

Question 18

My siblings and I used to go frequently to the football.

Answer 18

Mis hermanos y yo íbamos al fútbol con frecuencia.

Question 19

We frequently used to eat more dessert than we were allowed.

Answer 19

Comíamos con frecuencia más postres de los que estaban permitidos.

Question 20

6. OFTEN – A MENUDO

Answer 20

Another similar phrase trigger for the past imperfect is things you used to do often.

Question 21

There often used to be (use “haber” había) big parties at my cousin’s house.

Answer 21

A menudo había grandes fiestas en la casa de mis primos.

Question 22

We often used to tell each other stories.

Answer 22

A menudo nos contábamos historias.

Question 23

7. SOMETIMES – A VECES

Answer 23

The pattern of phrase triggers is hopefully obvious by now. We are stepping slowly from always to never. Here is how to talk about things we sometimes used to do:

Question 24

When I was young I sometimes went to the beach with my best friend.

Answer 24

Cuando era pequeño, a veces iba a la playa con mi mejor amigo.

Question 25

My father sometimes used to travel for his work.

Answer 25

Mi padre a veces viajaba por su trabajo.

Question 26

8. ALMOST NEVER – CASI NUNCA

Answer 26

Here are some examples of things you may have almost never done.

Question 27

We almost never went to my grandparents house.

Answer 27

Casi nunca íbamos a la casa de mis abuelos.

Question 28

I almost never used to get up before 8am.

Answer 28

Casi nunca me levantaba antes de las ocho.

Question 29

9. NEVER– NUNCA

Answer 29

The last phrase trigger that will help you to remember to use the past imperfect is nunca.

Question 30

I never used to like mushrooms, but now I do.

Answer 30

Nunca me gustaban (mushrooms plural to verb “gustar)” champiñones, pero ahora sí.

Question 31

We never used to go to the mountains, we always stayed in the city.

Answer 31

Nunca íbamos a la montañas, siempre nos quedábamos en la ciudad.