Lesson 15 Flashcards
The imperfect (past) verb tense, and the verb ACABAR ("to have just")
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What is the imperfect tense in Spanish?
The imperfect tense describes an action that could have occurred more than once over a span of time, with no specific beginning or ending. Examples:
- An unspecified amount of time –> De joven, quería un carro, “When I was young, I wanted a car”
- An indefinite number of occurrences, such as a habit or custom –> Desayunaba todos los días con mi hermano, “I used to eat breakfast every day with my brother”
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I __used to walk to school every day
Yo caminaba a la escuela todos los días
I used to walk - caminaba. Note that -ar verbs in the imperfect tense first person singular (yo) end in -aba
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Did you used to walk to Pepe’s house every night?
¿Caminabas a la casa de Pepe todas las noches?
you used to walk - caminabas
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Marta used to walk every weekend until she hurt her leg
Marta caminaba todos los fines de semana hasta que se lastimó la pierna
he/she used to walk - caminaba
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We used to walk alone every day
Caminábamos solos todos los días
we used to walk - caminábamos
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Raúl and Rodrigo were walking on the street when I came out of my house
Raúl y Rodrigo estaban caminando en la calle cuando yo salí de mi casa
was/were + __ing - estar (imperfect) + participle. This combination is known as the imperfect progressive tense
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Esteban didn’t realize that I was bathing when he entered the bathroom
Esteban no se dió cuenta de que me estaba bañando cuando él entró en el baño
to realize, to notice - darse cuenta (de). This literally means “to give oneself count of”
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TO WALK (Imperfect)
- I used to walk
- You used to walk
- He/She used to walk
- We used to walk
- You used to walk
- They used to walk
CAMINAR (Tiempo Imperfecto)
- Yo caminaba
- Tú caminabas
- Él/Ella/Ud caminaba
- Nosotros caminábamos
- Vosotros caminabais
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds caminaban
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What are the endings of regular -ar verbs (such as caminar) conjugated in the Imperfect Tense?
Regular Imperfect -ar endings
- -aba (yo)
- -abas (tú)
- -aba (él/ella/ud)
- -ábamos (nosotros)
- -abais (vosotros)
- -aban (ellos/ellas/uds)
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I used to eat with my grandparents every weekend
Comía con mis abuelos todos los fines de semana
I used to eat - comía. Comer is a regular -er verb in the imperfect
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You used to eat chicken with rice every Tuesday afternoon
Comías pollo con arroz todos los martes por la tarde
you used to eat - comías
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When Miguel was young, he used to eat an apple for lunch every day
De joven, Miguel comía una manzana de almuerzo todos los días
he/she used to eat - comía
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As kids, we didn’t used to eat vegetables. We only used to eat fruits
De niños, no comíamos verduras. Sólo comíamos frutas
we used to eat - comíamos
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Rosa and Paloma used to eat together every day
Rosa y Paloma comían juntas todos los días
they used to eat - comían
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TO EAT (Imperfect)
- I ate
- You ate
- He/She ate
- We ate
- You ate
- They ate
COMER (Tiempo Imperfecto)
- Yo comía
- Tú comías
- Él/Ella/Ud comía
- Nosotros comíamos
- Vosotros comíais
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds comían
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What are the endings of regular -er and -ir verbs (such as comer and sentir) conjugated in the Imperfect Tense?
Regular Imperfect -er and -ir endings
- -ía (yo)
- -ías (tú)
- -ía (él/ella/ud)
- -íamos (nosotros)
- -íais (vosotros)
- -ían (ellos/ellas/uds)
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I feel sad when you don’t talk to me
Yo me siento triste cuando tú no me hablas
to feel - sentir(se). Note that sentir(se) is conjugated like mentir in the present tense (e.g. “I feel” - Yo (me) siento)
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When I used to walk with you, I used to feel very tired
Cuando caminaba contigo, _me sentía muy _cansada
I used to feel - me sentía
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When I was with you, you used to feel happy
Cuando estaba contigo, te sentías feliz
you used to feel - te sentías
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Your mother used to feel tired when you didn’t help her clean
Tu madre se sentía cansada cuando no le ayudabas a limpiar
he/she used to feel - se sentía
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We used to feel happy to go to your house every Wednesday
Nos sentíamos contentos de ir a tu casa todos los miércoles
we used to feel - nos sentíamos
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You (vosotros) were feeling embarrassed; that’s why you didn’t come
Vosotros os sentíais avergonzados; por eso no vinisteis
you (vosotros) used to feel - sentíais. Note that the conjugation “were feeling” is translated in Spanish by the imperfect
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Do you know if they were feeling happy after she arrived?
¿Sabes si ellos se sentían contentos después de que ella llegó?
they used to feel - se sentían. Note the use of the imperfect se sentían in order to show how they were feeling and the preterite llegó to show one moment in time
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TO FEEL (Imperfect)
- I used to feel
- You used to feel
- He/She used to feel
- We used to feel
- You used to feel
- They used to feel
SENTIR(SE) (Tiempo Imperfecto)
- Yo (me) sentía
- Tú (te) sentías
- Él/Ella/Ud (se) sentía
- Nosotros (nos) sentíamos
- Vosotros (os) sentíais
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds (se) sentían
Note that -ir verbs are conjugated the same as -er verbs in the preterite tense
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When do you use the preterite and the imperfect tenses?
Preterite:
- An action that occurred once as a single event
- An action that occurred a limited number of times
- An action that was contained witihin a specific time frame
Imperfect:
- An action that was customary or habitual in the past
- An action that was ongoing
- An action that was contained within a broad time frame
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That color is very pretty
Ese color es muy bonito
color - el color
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My brother has brown hair, but I don’t
Mi hermano tiene el cabello de color castaño, pero yo no
brown - marrón, castaño, café. Note that the use of these words depends on the region
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I used to be very blonde as a child, but now I have brown hair
Yo era muy rubia de niña, pero ahora tengo el cabello de color castaño
I used to be - era. Note that ser is irregular in the imperfect tense
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When you were young, you always used to do your homework
Cuando eras joven, siempre hacías tu tarea
you used to be - eras
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José was not a happy boy because he always used to hurt himself
José no era un niño feliz porque siempre se lastimaba
he/she used to be - era
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We used to be best friends. What happened?
Nosotros éramos mejores amigos. ¿Qué pasó?
we used to be - éramos
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You (vosotros) used to be the most intelligent students in the class
Vosotros erais los estudiantes más inteligentes de la clase
you (vosotros) used to be - erais
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Alejandro and Antonio used to be the worst students, but now they are the best ones
Alejandro y Antonio eran los peores estudiantes, pero ahora son los mejores
they used to be - eran
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We use to not have any money when we were poor students
No teníamos nada de dinero cuando éramos estudiantes pobres
money - el dinero
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TO BE (Imperfect)
- I used to be
- You used to be
- He/She used to be
- We used to be
- You used to be
- They used to be
SER (Tiempo Imperfecto)
- Yo era
- Tú eras
- Él/Ella/Ud era
- Nosotros éramos
- Vosotros erais
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds eran
Note that the conjugations for ser in the imperfect tense are irregular
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I used to go to the supermarket with my grandmother every Saturday
Yo iba al supermercado con mi abuela todos los sábados
I used to go - iba. Remember that ir is irregular in the imperfect tense
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Did you go to the movies a lot when you were a kid?
¿Ibas mucho al cine cuando eras niño?
you used to go - ibas
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Rosario used to go to the museum all the time
Rosario iba al museo todo el tiempo
he/she used to go - iba
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When we had time, we used to go to your house
Cuando teníamos tiempo, íbamos a tu casa
we used to go - íbamos
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Every time you would go to school, I would go to work
Cada vez que tú ibas al colegio, yo iba a trabajar
every time, each time - cada vez
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How often do you exercise?
¿Cada cuánto haces ejercicio?
to exercise - hacer ejercicio. Note that cada cuá**nto means “how often”
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I exercise every other day
Hago ejercicio cada dos días
every other - cada dos. One may also say un día de por medio. *Cada otro* is wrong
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The rest of the students went to the museum
Los demás de los estudiantes fueron al museo
the rest of the - los demás de
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Are you going to eat the rest of the chicken too?
¿Te vas a comer el resto del pollo también?
the rest - el resto. Note that comer often takes reflexive pronouns (e.g. nos comemos la ensalada, él se come la manzana, etc.), although it is not obligatory
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Both sisters were teachers at this school
Ambas hermanas fueron maestras en esta escuela
both - los dos, ambos
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Each time that you (vosotros) went to the library, I was already returning from there
Cada vez que vosotros ibais a la biblioteca, yo ya estaba regresando de allí
you (vosotros) used to go - ibais
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They used to go to the museum each time that they had art homework
Ellos iban al museo cada vez que tenían tarea de arte
they used to go - iban
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TO GO (Imperfect)
- I used to go
- You used to go
- He/She used to go
- We used to go
- You used to go
- They used to go
IR (Tiempo Imperfecto)
- Yo iba
- Tú ibas
- Él/Ella/Ud iba
- Nosotros íbamos
- Vosotros ibais
- Ellos/Ellas/Uds iban
Remember that the conjugations for ir in the imperfect tense are irregular
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I already finished my homework
Ya acabé mi tarea
to finish - acabar. Terminar and acabar can be used synonymously in certain cases (e.g., when describing someone finishing an activity)
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We had __just arrived when my mom called
Acabábamos de llegar cuando llamó mi mamá
Note that conjugating acabar in the imperfect tense allows us to indicate that something “had just” happened
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What is the imperfect progressive tense in Spanish?
The imperfect progressive is the Spanish equivalent of “was __-ing”. Like the present progressive (e.g. está estudiando), the imperfect progressive (e.g. estaba estudiando) is comprised of estar conjugated in the imperfect and a present participle:
- Estábamos escuchando el radio - “We were listening to the radio.”
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- Yo lo conocía
- Yo lo conocí
- Lo conocía means “I used to know him”
- Lo conocí means “I met him”
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- Yo sabía la respuesta
- Yo supe la respuesta
- Sabía means “I knew”
- Supe is closer to “I found out”
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- Yo tenía mucho dinero
- Yo tuve mucho dinero
- Tenía mucho dinero means “I used to have a lot of money”
- Tuve mucho dinero means “I had a lot of money” or “I got a lot of money”
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We just finished cooking
Acabamos de cocinar
to have just - acabar de.
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You (vosotros) used to eat chicken every Thursday
Vosotros comíais pollo todos los jueves
you (vosotros) used to eat - comíais
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You (vosotros) used to walk down this road every day
Vosotros caminabais por esta calle todos los días
you (vosotros) used to walk - caminabais
