Spanish Imperfect Tense: forms, uses and the three irregulars
Short answer
The imperfect describes what used to happen or was happening: -ar verbs take -aba endings, -er and -ir verbs take -ía. Only ser, ir and ver are irregular. Use it for habits, descriptions, age, clock time and weather in the past.
Level A2 · verbs, past, imperfecto
The rule in full
The past without a finish line: habits, descriptions, background, age, time, weather.
| hablar | comer | vivir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaba | comía | vivía |
| tú | hablabas | comías | vivías |
| él/ella | hablaba | comía | vivía |
| nosotros | hablábamos | comíamos | vivíamos |
| vosotros | hablabais | comíais | vivíais |
| ellos | hablaban | comían | vivían |
Only three irregular verbs in the whole language:
| ser | ir | ver | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | era | iba | veía |
| tú | eras | ibas | veías |
| él | era | iba | veía |
| nosotros | éramos | íbamos | veíamos |
| vosotros | erais | ibais | veíais |
| ellos | eran | iban | veían |
Time markers: antes, siempre, todos los días, mientras, cuando era niño.
- Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días.
- Eran las tres y llovía.
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