Imperfect tense - regulars Flashcards
yo - AR
aba
tú - AR
abas
usted - AR
aba
nosotros - AR
ábamos
vosotros - AR
abais
ustedes - AR
aban
yo - IR/ER
ía
tú - IR/ER
ías
usted - IR/ER
ía
nosotros - IR/ER
íamos
vosotros - IR/ER
íais
ustedes - IR/ER
ían
when is the imperfect tense used?
past events or recurring actions that don’t have a specific end date
imperfect tense usage example 1
Mi familia y yo íbamos de vacaciones a la playa todos los años.
My family and I vacationed at the beach every year.
We don’t know when the family stopped vacationing at the beach.
All we know is that they don’t anymore (sad face), so we use the imperfect tense.
imperfect tense usage example 2
Cuando era pequeño vivía en Madrid con mis padres.
When I was small, I lived in Madrid with my parents.
Here, we don’t know the exact date when the speaker (let’s call them Mercedes) stopped living in Madrid with their parents – so we use the imperfect tense.
The other way to think about the Spanish imperfect is when you want to describe the circumstances – or the background – in which an event took place.
Think of it as the key to setting the scene when you start telling a story.
imperfect tense usage example 3
Estábamos en el jardín cuando comenzó a llover.
We were in the garden when it started to rain.
In this sentence, the imperfect is used to give background to the story – they were in garden – when it started to rain.
imperfect tense usage example 4
Justo cuando salía de casa sonó el teléfono.
Just when I was leaving the house, the phone rang.
Here, the imperfect is used to give us background to what Mercedes was doing when she was interrupted by the phone ringing.
In all of these sentences, we don’t know exactly when these actions happened, just that they’re some time in the past.
