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When the imperfect tense is used, how it differs from the past simple (preterite), tense and comparing how Spanish sentences using the imperfect tense may be constructed in English. |
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Using the imperfect tense in conjunction with other tenses. |
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Looking at how AR / ER and IR regular verbs are formed in the imperfect tense. |
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Looking at how AR / ER and IR irregular verbs are formed in the imperfect tense (ir - to go / ser - to be / ver - to see). |
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How the verb ‘ir’ can be used with the imperfect tense to mean ‘was / were going to’. |
| What you can learn from this lesson | |
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To understand in what types of situations the imperfect tense might be used in every day speech and when it may be used in conjunction with other tenses. |
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Appreciating how in some situations other tenses may be used in place of the imperfect tense. |
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To appreciate how some types of sentences in English using ‘used to’ can be directly translated using the imperfect tense. |
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Knowing how the imperfect tense is formed with verbs and knowing which small number of verbs take irregular forms. |
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Knowing how to formulate the verb ‘ir’ with ‘a’ to talk about things in the past that were going to happen. |
Affiliates |
BERLITZ SPANISH |
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FLUENZ SPANISH |
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PART 1
The first part of this lesson looks at what the imperfect tense is, when it is used in Spanish and how it translates into English.
In the Spanish language there are two principle tenses that are used to talk about the past, whereas in English the past simple (preterite), tense is the only principle tense. A comparison between the past simple (preterite), tense as used in both English and Spanish is given in a separate lesson. The second past tense that is used in Spanish and which does not exist in the same form in English is the imperfect tense. Where the imperfect tense is used in Spanish other tenses need to be used to translate into English.
When the imperfect tense is used in Spanish
In certain set phrases when
talking about what the weather was like or how people felt. |
Hacía frio. - It was cold, (literally translated = it made cold.)
- Past simple (preterite), tense is used in English.
Yo tenía hambre. - I was hungry, (literally translated = I had hunger)
- Past simple (preterite), tense is used in English.
To say what we did regularly in
the past or what used to happen. ‘Used to’, is used in English. |
Yo comía muchas golosinas. - I used to eat a lot of sweets.
Él miraba novelas. - He used to watch soap operas.
When describing settings, scenes,
or situations. Here the past simple (preterite), tense is used in English. |
Las montañas estaban enormes. - The mountains were huge.
El día estaba largo. - The day was long.
Much of the time it is possible to use either the imperfect tense or the past simple, (preterite), tense in Spanish. Often the decision to use one or the other is simply a matter of personal preference. First try to apply the guidelines given in this lesson and the lesson on the past simple, (preterite), tense. If they don't apply then the probability is that you can use either tense.
A lot of the time students prefer to use the imperfect tense in situations where they could use either of the past tenses, simply because the formation of verbs in the imperfect tense is easier to remember. Our advise is to study, remember and use both tenses as you will come across both in everyday speech.
PART 2
Part two of the lesson looks at situations when the imperfect tense is used in conjunction with the verb ‘estar’ to form the past continuous tense. Look at the lesson on the continuous tenses for more details on how and when they are used. In these situations it is often possible to use either the imperfect tense, or the past continuous tense. Again it is simply a matter of personal preference. These situations usually occur when:
Describing something that was happening. |
Él caminaba hasta la tienda. - He was walking to the shop.
(Imperfect tense.)
Él estaba caminando hasta la tienda. - He was walking to the shop.
(Past continuous tense.)
Describing something that was
happening either before or after something else happened. |
Marco manejaba
cuando sucedió.
Marco was driving when it happened.
(Imperfect tense.)
Marco estaba manejando cuando sucedió.
Marco was driving when it happened.
(Past continuous tense.)
Notice that in the second example, the past simple (preterite), tense is used with the verb sucedir in the second part of the sentence.
PART 3
The third part of the lesson looks at how the imperfect tense is formed. The good news here is that the majority of verbs that are formed in the imperfect tense are regular. This means that only the endings of the verbs change and not the stems. There are some irregular verbs however and these will be looked at in part four of the lesson.
Formation of regular AR, ER and IR verbs
| personal pronoun | gastar | saber | fluir |
| (to spend) | (to know) | (to flow) | |
| yo | gastaba | sabía | fluía |
| tú | gastabas | sabías | fluías |
| él/ella/usted | gastaba | sabía | fluía |
| nosotros/nosotras | gastábamos | sabíamos | fluíamos |
| vosotros/vosotras | gastabais | sabíais | fluíais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | gastaban | sabían | fluían |
Things to note.
1) Only the endings of the verbs change not the stems.
2) ER and IR regular verbs have the same endings.
3) AR verbs have different endings to ER and IR verbs
4) AR verb formations do not have accent marks except for the nosotros/as form
5) ER and IR verbs have accent marks with all forms. The accent mark is always placed above the ‘i’ in the ending.
It is also important to note that the verb endings in the 1st person singular (yo) and the third person plural (él/ella/usted) of AR, ER and IR verbs are the same. Therefore in some situations it might be necessary to use a personal pronoun in a sentence. Normally we can identify what the personal pronoun should be by the way the verb is formed. Take a look at the following examples.
Maria limpiaba el apartamento cuando sonó el teléfono
- Maria was cleaning the apartment when the phone rang.
Yo limpiaba el apartamento cuando sonó el teléfono
- I was cleaning the apartment when the phone rang.
In the first example the personal pronoun ‘ella’ is not necessary because it is clear that ‘Maria’ is cleaning. In the second example, it would not be possible to identify who was cleaning unless a personal pronoun was used.
PART 4
The fourth part of the lesson looks at how irregular verbs are formed in the imperfect tense. Luckily there are only three. These are as follows:
1) ir = to go
2) ver = to see
3) ser = to be
| personal pronoun | ir | ver | ser |
| (to go) | (to see) | (to be) | |
| yo | iba | veía | era |
| tú | ibas | veías | eras |
| él/ella/usted | iba | veía | era |
| nosotros/nosotras | íbamos | veíamos | éramos |
| vosotros/vosotras | ibais | veíais | erais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | iban | veían | eran |
Things to note.
1) Accent marks are used with all personal pronouns and the verb ‘ver’.
2) Accent marks are only used with the nosotros/as forms with the verbs ‘ir’ and ‘ser’.
(Tú) ibas a la piscina cada semana.
You used to go the swimming pool every week.
Ella veía el cielo cuando le chocó.
She was looking at the sky when
it hit her.
Eran Buenos chicos.
They were good guys.
PART 5
| personal pronoun | ir + a | decir | English translation |
| (to say) | |||
| yo | iba a | decir | I was going to say |
| tú | ibas a | decir | you were going to say |
| él/ella/usted | iba a | decir | he/she/ was going to say you (polite) were going to say |
| nosotros/nosotras | íbamos a | decir | we were going to say |
| vosotros/vosotras | ibais a | decir | you (all) were going to say |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | iban a | decir | they were going to say you (all) polite were going to say |
Things to note.
1) An accent mark is used above the 'i' in the nosotros/as forms.
2) The letter 'a' is always placed directly after the formation of 'ir'.
3) When the verb 'ir' + 'a' is used in this way, a verb will always come directly after the letter 'a'.
That concludes this lesson on the imperfect tense with
irregular verbs. If you have not done so already watch the actual video for this
lesson and then try one of the associated quizzes to test your understanding.
