Chapter 10: The imperfect tense Flashcards
Camille used to visit her family in Colombia.
Camila visitaba su familia en Colombia.
Her family lived near Cali.
Su familia vivía cerca de Cali.
Conjugate “contar” (to count, to tell) in the imperfect. This is the paradigm for first conjugation verbs in the imperfect.
contaba contabas contaba contábamos contábais contaban
Conjugate “Vender” (to sell) in the imperfect. This is the 2nd conjugation paradigm for the imperfect.
vendía vendías vendía vendíamos vendíais vendían
Conjugate “abrir” (to open) in the imperfect. This is the third conjugation paradigm for the imperfect.
abría abrías abría abríamos abríais abrían
Conjugate “ser” (to be, ie, a kind person).
IRREGULAR
era eras era éramos erais eran
conjugate “ir” (to go) in the imperfect
IRREGULAR
iba ibas iba íbamos ibais iban
conjugate “ver” (to see) in the imperfect
IRREGULAR
veía veías veía veíamos veíais veían
Nina -used to swim- in the pool on Saturdays.
Nina -nadaba- en la piscina los sábados.
[Use the imperfect to express habitual actions in the past.]
Lisa -would go- often -with- Nina.
Lisa -acompañaba a- Nina a menudo.
[Use the imperfect to express habitual actions in the past.]
The children -were playing- in the park.
Los chicos -jugaban- en el parque.
[Use the imperfect to discuss ongoing actions in the past]
Ali -had- long hair and green eyes.
Ali -tenía- el pelo largo y los ojos verdes.
[Use the imperfect for past tense descriptions]
The streets -were- slippery.
Los calles -estaban- resbalosas.
[Use the imperfect for past tense descriptions]
The concert -included- two Cuban orchestras.
El concierto -incluía- dos orquestas cubanas.
[Use the imperfect for past tense descriptions]
-It was- four o’clock in the afternoon.
-Eran- las cuatro de la tarde.
Use the imperfect for the time of day in the past.
The meeting -was- always on Monday(s).
La reunión siempre -era- los lunes.
Use the imperfect to express the day of the week in the past.
-It was- the first of May.
-Era- el primero de mayo.
Use the imperfect to express the day of the month in the past.
Pablo -was- forty years old.
Pablo -tenía- cuarenta años.
Use the imperfect for the age of a person or animal in the past.
My cat -was- two years old.
Mi gato -tenía- dos años.
Use the imperfect for the age of a person or animal in the past.
I -used to think- about you every day.
Yo -pensaba- en ti todos los días.
Use the imperfect to express states of mind in the past with the verbs “creer” (to believe), “querer” (to want, to love) “pensar” (to think), “esperar” (to hope, wait), or “saber” (to know, ie, a fact)
-We wanted- a house with three bathrooms.
-Queríamos- una casa con tres baños.
Use the imperfect to express states of mind in the past with the verbs “creer” (to believe), “querer” (to want, to love) “pensar” (to think), “esperar” (to hope, wait), or “saber” (to know, ie, a fact)
-We used to wait for- the bus near my house.
-Esperábamos- el autobús cerca de mi casa.
Use the imperfect to express states of mind in the past with the verbs “creer” (to believe), “querer” (to want, to love) “pensar” (to think), “esperar” (to hope, wait), or “saber” (to know, ie, a fact)
He -had- a headache.
Le -dolía- la cabeza.
[Use the imperfect to express physical sensations in the past with “doler” (to hurt, [intransitive]), “sentir” (to feel) and molestar (to bother).]
-He did- not -feel- well.
No -se sentía- bien.
[Use the imperfect to express physical sensations in the past with “doler” (to hurt, [intransitive]), “sentir” (to feel) and molestar (to bother).]
-Did- the noise -bother- you?
¿Te -molestaba- el ruído?
[Use the imperfect to express physical sensations in the past with “doler” (to hurt, [intransitive]), “sentir” (to feel) and molestar (to bother).]
often
a menudo
sometimes
a veces
every day
cada día
every year
cada año
frequently (2 words)
con frecuencia
at that time [last word with e]
en aquella época
at that time [last word with t]
en aquellos tiempos
frequently (1 word)
frecuentemente
usually
generalmente
many times
muchas veces
all one’s life
toda la vida
every week
todas las semanas
all day
todo el día
every day
todos los días
all the time
todo el tiempo
every year
todos los años
several times
varias veces
several days
varios días
Cesar -was- a dictator.
César -era- dictador.
The imperfect “sets the stage.”
-It was- a clear, sunny day.
-Era- un día claro y hacía sol.
The imperfect “sets the stage.”
-It was- four in the afternoon.
-Eran- las cuatro de la tarde.
The imperfect “sets the stage.”
My aunt -was- six years old in this photo.
Mí tía -tenía- seis años en esta foto.
The imperfect “sets the stage.”
The nineteenth century -was- the century of the middle class.
El siglo diecinueve -fue- el siglo de la clase media.
When used with time, the preterite states beginnings and endings or encompasses whole periods.
Dejó de llover.
Dejaba de llover.
It stopped raining.
The rain was letting up.
When I was a boy, -I would play- with my dog.
Cuando era niño, -jugaba- con mi perro.
imperfect
She was hoping that John -would ask- her to marry him.
Ella esperaba que Juan le -pidiera- la mano.
imperfect subjunctive
If I had more free time, -I would spend- it with my daughter.
Si tuviera más tiempo libre, lo -pasaría- con mi hija.
conditional.
- We went- to the beach.
- We went- to the beach a lot.
- Fuimos- a la playa. [preterite]
- Íbamos- a la playa mucho. [imperfect]
When -did you find out- that he falsified the documents?
I already -knew- the guy was a liar.
¿Cuándo -supiste- que él falsificó la documentación?
Yo ya -sabía- que el tipo era mentiroso.
The verb “saber” means “to know a fact/to know how to do something” in the present tense. But in the preterite, it means “found out.” To translate “knew,” we use the imperfect.
I -met- the French woman at a party.
Goethe -was- very -familiar with- the opera Die Zauberflöte.
Yo -conocí- a la francesa en una fiesta.
Goethe -conocía- bien la ópera Die Zauberflöte.
The verb “conocer” in the present tense means “to know a person/to be familiar with something.” But in the preterite, it means “met [became acquainted with].” To translate “was familiar with,” we need the imperfect of conocer.
They -tried- to open the safe.
He -didn’t want- anyone to discover his crime.
Ellos -quisieron- abrir la caja fuerte.
-No quería- que nadie descubriera su crimen.
The verb “querer” in the present means “to want (something)/to love (someone)” But it the preterite, it means “tried to.” To translated “wanted” or “loved,” we use the imperfect.
-I- finally -succeeded at- scaling the mountain.
They -failed- to open it.
In high school, John -couldn’t- run as fast as his brother.
Por fin, -pude- escalar la montaña.
No la -pudieron- abrir.
En el colegio, Juan -no podía- correr tan rápido como tu hermano.
The verb “poder” in the present means “can.” But in the preterite, it means “succeeded.” To translate “could,” we need the imperfect.
The thief -opened- the window cautiously, and, as -he observed- the gentleman reading, he -failed- to notice that the fellow -was hiding- in his lap a revolver already cocked.
El intruso -abría- la ventana con cuidado y mientras -observaba- al señor que -leía-, no -advirtió- que este -ocultaba- un revólver ya armado en su regazo.
They told me they knew the galleon was dozens of meters below the surface, but they tried to raise it, because there was several millions of dollars’ worth of pieces of eight on the sea floor.
Me dijeron que sabían que el galeón estaba a docenas de metros debajo de la superficie del mar, pero que quisieron subirlo porque había varios millones de dólares en piezas de a ocho en el suelo submarino.
When I found out what Mr. Acero was doing to me, I decided to denounce him before all.
Cuando supe lo que el Sr. Acero me hacía, decidí denunciarlo ante todos.
While they chatted in the hallway about the cakes they were baking on weekends, I kept writing.
Mientras conversaban en el pasillo sobre los pasteles que horneaban los fines de semana, yo seguí escribiendo.
