El Pretérito Imperfecto de indicativo Flashcards
When to Use the Past Imperfect Tense
- Past actions that were not completed (i.e., actions that lasted in time)
* Yo leía un libro. (I was reading a book.) - Describing people, things, places and situations in the past
* La casa era grande y tenía tres balcones. (The house was big and had three balconies.) - To set the stage for another past action (The second past action will normally need the preterite. It’s usually used to say that someone was doing something (imperfect), when all of a sudden something happened (preterite).)
* Cuando empezó a llover estábamos en el parque. (We were in the park when it started raining.) - When you want to talk about repeated or habitual actions in the past
* Solía ir a casa de mis abuelos cada sábado. (I used to go to my grandparents’ house every Saturday.) - When talking about someone’s age in the past
* Fui a los Estados Unidos cuando tenía 15 años. (I went to the United States when I was 15 years old.) - When telling the time or talking about time in the past
*Era muy tarde cuando volví a casa. (It was very late when I came back home.)
AR verbs
Stem+ ending
Yo: -aba
Tu: ** -abas**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** -aba**
Nosotros (as): ** -ábamos**
Vosotros (as): ** -abais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** -aban**
ER verbs
Yo: ** -ía**
Tu: ** -ías**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** -ía**
Nosotros (as): ** -íamos**
Vosotros (as): ** -íais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** -ían**
IR verbs
Yo: ** -ía**
Tu: ** -ías**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** -ía**
Nosotros (as): ** -íamos**
Vosotros (as): ** -íais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** -ían**
How many irregular verbs are there in this tense?
3
Ser
Yo: era
Tu: eras
él/ Ella/ Usted: era
Nosotros (as): ** Éramos**
Vosotros (as): erais
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: eran
Ir
Yo: ** Iba**
Tu: ** Ibas**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** Iba**
Nosotros (as): Íbamos
Vosotros (as): ** Ibais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** Iban**
Ver
Yo: ** Veía**
Tu: ** Veías**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** Veía**
Nosotros (as): ** Veíamos**
Vosotros (as): ** Veíais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** Veían**
To be
Infinitive: Ser
Yo: era
Tu: eras
él/ Ella/ Usted: era
Nosotros (as): ** Éramos**
Vosotros (as): erais
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: eran
To see
Infinitive: To see
Yo: ** Veía**
Tu: ** Veías**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** Veía**
Nosotros (as): ** Veíamos**
Vosotros (as): ** Veíais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** Veían**
To go
Infinitive: Ir
Yo: ** Iba**
Tu: ** Ibas**
él/ Ella/ Usted: ** Iba**
Nosotros (as): Íbamos
Vosotros (as): ** Ibais**
Ellos/ Ellas/ Ustedes: ** Iban**
How to say when I was young?
(Note that in Spanish you can just say “de pequeño” or “de joven” (When I was young). You don’t have to say, even though you can, “Cuando era pequeño” or “Cuando era joven.”)
**
Trigger words: often
I often ate ice cream when I was a child
A menudo
“ah meh-noo-doh”
De pequeño comía helado muy a menudo
Trigger words: at times
At times my mother would not let me eat it
Algunas veces
* Spain: “ahl-goo-nahs beh-thehs”
* Latin America: “ahl-goo-nahs beh-sehs”
Algunas veces mi madre no me dejaba comerlo
Trigger words: sometimes
Sometimes I listened to the Beatles
A veces
Spain: “ah beh-thehs”
Latin America: “ah beh-sehs”
A veces escuchaba a los Beatles
Trigger words: [time period] (every [time period]
I used to go partying every day when I was young
Cada
“kah-dah”
Cuando era joven iba de fiesta cada día
Trigger words: frequently
I frequently came back home late
Con frecuencia
* Spain: “kohn freh-kwehn-thyah”
* Latin America: “kohn freh-kwehn-syah”
frecuentemente
“freh-kwehn-teh-mehn-teh”
Frecuentemente volvía a casa tarde
Trigger words: almost never
I almost never had any money
Casi nunca
“kah-see noong-kah”
Casi nunca tenía dinero
Trigger words: at that time
(I was a very good student at that time
en aquella época
* “ehn ah-keh-yah eh-poh-kah”
En aquel tiempo
* “ehn ah-kehl tyehm-poh”
Era muy buen estudiante en aquel tiempo
Trigger words: frequently
I frequently came back home late
frecuentemente
“freh-kwehn-teh-mehn-teh”
Con frecuencia
* Spain: “kohn freh-kwehn-thyah”
* Latin America: “kohn freh-kwehn-syah”
Frecuentemente volvía a casa tarde
Trigger words: at that time
(I was a very good student at that time
En aquel tiempo
* “ehn ah-kehl tyehm-poh”
en aquella época
* “ehn ah-keh-yah eh-poh-kah”
Era muy buen estudiante en aquel tiempo
Trigger words: while
You were studying while I was cleaning
Mientras
“myehn-trahs”
Tú estudiabas mientras yo limpiaba
Trigger words: many times
Many times I didn’t know what to answer
Muchas veces
Spain: “moo-chahs beh-thehs”
Latin America: “moo-chahs beh-sehs”
Muchas veces no sabía qué responder
Trigger words: [time period] (Every [time period]
I used to go to school every day when I was a child
Todos
“toh-dohs”
De pequeño iba a la escuela todos los días
Trigger words: all the time
She used to cry all the time
Todo el tiempo
“toh-doh ehl tyehm-poh”
Ella lloraba todo el tiempo
Trigger words: to usually do
I used to finish work at 4 p.m.
Soler
“soh-lehr”
Solía terminar de trabajar a las 4 de la tarde
