Book #1, Chapter #10, Grammar, Set #1 Flashcards
Give the imperfect endings for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs.
-ar:
yo -aba
tú -abas
ud./él/ella -aba
nosotros/as -ábamos
vosotros/as -abais
uds./ellos/ellas -aban
-er:
yo -ía
tú -ías
ud./él/ella -ía
nosotros/as -íamos
vosotros/as -íais
uds./ellos/ellas -ían
-ir:
yo -ía
tú -ías
ud./él/ella -ía
nosotros/as -íamos
vosotros/as -íais
uds./ellos/ellas -ían
Note: there are no stem changes in the imperfect.
What is the imperfect form of “haber”?
“Había”.
What are the only verbs that are irregular in the imperfect? How do you conjugate them?
Ir:
yo iba
tú ibas
ud./él/ella iba
nosotros/as íbamos
vosotros/as ibais
uds./ellos/ellas iban
Ser:
yo era
tú eras
ud./él/ella era
nosotros/as éramos
vosotros/as erais
uds./ellos/ellas eran
Ver:
yo veía
tú veías
ud./él/ella veía
nosotros/as veíamos
vosotros/as veíais
uds./ellos/ellas veían
When do you use the imperfect tense instead of the preterite?
When you need to express actions that are incomplete or continuing, rather than using the preterite to express that an action was completed in the past.
For example:
A) “¿Dónde vivías de niño?”: Where were you living as a child?
B) “Vivía en San José.”: I was living in San Jose.
You use the imperfect tense to describe actions that were…
1) Habitual or repeated: We used to go to the park on Sundays.
2) In progress: I was reading while he was studying.
3) About physical characteristics: He was tall and handsome.
4) About mental or emotional states: He loved his family very much.
5) About telling time: It was 3:30.
6) About age: The children were six years old.
What is the rule about using the imperfect and the preterite in the same sentence?
The imperfect describes events that were happening, while the preterite often describes actions that interrupted what was happening. Also, the imperfect can provide background information, such as the time, weather, or location when something happened, while the preterite describes the specific events that occurred.
How do you use the third person reflexive pronoun “se” to form impersonal constructions?
In Spanish, verbs that are not reflexive can be used with se to form impersonal constructions. These are statements in which the person performing the action is not defined.
A) “Se habla español en Costa Rica.”: They speak Spanish in Costa Rica.
B) “Se hacen operaciones aquí.”: They perform operations here.
Note that the third person singular pronoun is used with singular verbs and the plural pronoun with plural verbs.
How can you use the word “se” to describe accidental or unplanned events?
“Se” + [indirect object pronoun] + [verb] + [subject].
In this type of construction, what would normally be the direct object of the sentence becomes the subject, and it agrees with the verb, not with the indirect object pronoun.
A) “Se me pedío el teléfono de la farmacia.”: I lost the pharmacy’s phone number.
B) “Se nos olvidaron los pasajes.”: We forgot the stickers.
How do you express the verb “to drop”?
The phrase “dejar caer” (to let fall) or a se construction is often used to mean “to drop”.
A) “El médico dejó caer la aspirina.”: The doctor dropped the aspirin.
B) “A mí se me cayeron los cuadernos.”: I dropped the notebooks.
How do you clarify or emphasize who the person involved in an action is?
Use the construction “a + [noun]” or “a + [prepostional pronoun]”.
A) “Al paciente se le perdió la receta.”: the patient lost his prescription.
B) “A ustedes se les quedaron los libros en casa.”: You left the books at home.
How do you form the most common adverbs?
To form most adverbs, add “-mente” to the feminine form of the adjective. If the adjective does not have a special feminine form, just add -mente to the standard form. Adjectives do not lose their accents when adding “-mente”.
Where are most adverbs placed in a sentence?
Adverbs that end in “-mente” generally follow the verb, while adverbs that modify an adjective of another adverb precede the word the modify.
