The Imperfect Tense

Question 1

The imperfect tense

Answer 1

It is a past tense.

It is used to described past habitual actions.

It is used to describe actions that occured over a prolongued period of time in the past.

It is similar to “used to” or “was doing”.

It is used to give background details of an event or person.

Describes feelings or state of mind (actions that are not physical).

Question 2

How do you form the conjugations for regular verbs?

Answer 2

Drop the infinitive (–ar, -er, -ir) and add the corresponding conjugations.

Question 3

Imperfect conjugations for -ar ending verbs:

HINT: IT’S SIMILAR TO THE FLINSTONS’ SONG:

“yABA, dABA, do”

If you can recognize these basic singular conjugation, you can remember the other forms.

Answer 3

yo > aba nosotros > ábamos

tú > abas ustedes > aban

usted > aba

él, ella > aba ellos, ellas > aban

(nosotros has an accent mark on the first a)

Question 4

Imperfect conjugations for -er, -ir ending verbs

Hint: just sing the Old McDonald Had a Song,

ia, ia, io

Answer 4

yo > ía nosotros, -as > íamos

tú > ías ustedes > ían

usted > ía

él, ella > ía ellos, ellas > ían

(note: all i’s have an accent mark)

Question 5

There are only THREE irregular verbs in the imperfect.

Name these three irregular verbs in the imperfect.

Answer 5

ir a

ver

ser

Question 6

Recite the conjugations for ver in the imperfect.

Answer 6

ver

yo veía

tú veías

usted veía

él, ella veÍa

nosotros, -as veíamos

ustedes veían

ellos, ellas veían

Question 7

The conjugation of ser in the Imperfect.

Answer 7

yo era

tú eras

ud., él, ella era

nosotros, -as éramos

uds. ellos, ellas eran

Question 8

The conjugation of ir a in the Imperfecto.

Answer 8

yo iba a

tú ibas a

ud. él, ella iba a

nosotros, -as íbamos a

uds., ellos, ellas iban a

Question 9

Identify expression associated with the imperfect that indicate

frecuency of past actions.

Answer 9

Key words such as:

generalmente,

de pequeño, -a,

de niño, -a,

a menudo,

de vez en cuando…

Question 10

Conjugate vivir in the imperfect.

Give the conjugations in order of their person and number.

(e.g. first person singular, second person singular…)

Answer 10

vivía

vivÍas

(usted, él, ella) vivÍa

vivÍamos

(ustedes, ellos, ellas) vivían

Question 11

Conjugate practicar in the imperfect.

Give the conjugations by number and person.

(e.g. first person singular, second person singular….)

Answer 11

practicaba

practicabas

(usted, él, ella ) practicaba

practicábamos

(ustedes, ellos, ellas) practicaban

Question 12

So, what happens if the verb is reflexive?

Answer 12

You must use the reflexive pronoun before the conjugated verb:

yo me

tú te

ud., él, ella se

nosotros, -as nos

uds., ellos, ellas, se

Question 13

Conjugate the following verb in the Imperfect:

acostarse

Answer 13

me acostaba

te acostabas

se acostaba

nos acostábamos

se acostaban

Question 14

Are there any stem changing verbs or irregular stem verbs in the Imperfect?

Answer 14

NO!

There aren’t any stem changing verbs nor

any irregular stem verbs in the Imperfect.

THERE ARE ONLY THREE IRREGULAR VERBS:

IR A, SER, VER

If it is not one of these three verbs, then

it must be a regular verb.

Question 15

Other uses of the Imperfect.

Answer 15

1- to describe people, places, and situations in the past.

Marta era muy estudiosa.

Los partidos de Los Rams eran divertidos.

2- to describe the date, time agen and weather in the past.

Hacía mucho calor en Los Angeles.

Eran las tres de la tarde cuando terminaba

la escuela.