Imperfect Tense

Kurz erklärt

The imperfect describes past situations without focusing on their beginning or end. Use it for things that used to happen, actions that were in progress, and background details such as age, time, weather, feelings, or appearance.

Bildung

For -ar verbs, add -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -aban to the stem: hablaba. For -er and -ir verbs, add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían: comía, vivían. The common irregular forms are ir → iba, ser → era, and ver → veía.

Verwendung

• Repeated or habitual past actions, often with siempre, antes, or todos los días
• Actions or situations that were continuing at a past moment
• Descriptions and background details in the past
• Age, time, weather, thoughts, and feelings in the past

Beispiele

• Cuando era niño, jugaba fútbol todos los días. — When I was a child, I used to play soccer every day.
• A las ocho todavía llovía. — At eight o’clock, it was still raining.
• Vivíamos cerca de la escuela. — We used to live near the school.
• Ustedes veían esa serie los viernes. — You used to watch that series on Fridays.

Typischer Fehler

❌ Yo vivaba con mis abuelos.

✅ Yo vivía con mis abuelos.

Do not use the -aba endings with -ir verbs. Vivir takes the -ía endings in the imperfect.

Merke

Use -aba with -ar verbs and -ía with -er and -ir verbs. The same form is used for él, ella, and usted, and another shared form for ellos, ellas, and ustedes.