SPN 102: Imperfect Tense

Spanish Language Grammar: Verb Tenses
Imperfect Tense (Indicative Mood)

Indicative Mood: Expresses facts, and actual situations: Ejemplo: Trabajaba todos los días.
Nearly all verbs in the imperfect are regular. Only three verbs: ser, ir, and ver-are irregular. Observe the endings for the –ar, -er, and –ir verbs.

ar (hablar) er (comer) ir (vivir)
(I used to speak, etc) (I used to eat, etc) (I used to live, etc)
Yo hablaba comía vivía
Tú hablabas comías vivías
El,Ella, Ud. hablaba comía vivía
Nosotros hablábamos comíamos vivíamos
Vosotros hablabais comíais vivíais
Ellos/as,Uds. hablaban comían vivían

Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect

ser ir ver
(I used to be, etc) (I used to go, etc) (I used to see, etc)
Yo era iba veía
Tú eras ibas veías
El,Ella, Ud. era iba veía
Nosotros éramos íbamos veíamos
Vosotros erais ibais veíais
Ellos/as,Uds. eran iban veían

When to use the imperfect?
A. Habitual or continous actions in the past: When the action is similar to “I used to…”, i.e. there is no indication of when or how many times the action occurred or for how long.
Ejercicio 1. Translate into Spanish.
1. I used to study music. 2. Where did you all use to work? 3. You (sing, formal) used to read lots of books. 4. My mother used to cook pasta. 5. My siblings used to play hide and seek.

B. Basic simple description: Whereas the preterite emphasizes physical action, the imperfect frequently focuses on background description. The reference is what things were like, rather than what happened. Note the verbs ser which is used for description, origin, time and estar, used to denote location, short-term conditions, and the result of an action, are used frequently used in these situations. Consider:
Aldo compró un carro (Aldo bought a car). Preterite (specific action)
El carro era azul (The car was blue). Imperfect (description)
Sandra se casó (Sandra got married). Preterite (specific action)
Sandra estaba casada (Sandra was married). Imperfect (description)
Ejercicio 2. Translate into Spanish.
1. My grandfather was a fisherman (granjero). 2. Veronica was pregnant (embarazada). 3. Where was the money? 4. My pen didn’t write. 5. I was embarrased (avergonzado).

C. “-Ing” in the past. References to actions in progress in the past (“I was working”) generally omit mention of a specfic lenght of time, and thus are in the imperfect. We often use this format to describe two actions going on at the same time. I was writing while Greg was painting (Yo estaba escribiendo mientras Greg estaba pintando/Yo escribía y Greg pintaba).
Ejercicio 3. Translate into Spanish.
1. We were living in the country (campo). 2. They were listening to the radio while they were studying. 3. Why were you watching TV while I was studying? 4. The children were playing in the garden. 5. What were you doing last night?

D. “Would” and “could” in the past: In the imperfect, “would” is equivalent to “used to”, while “could” is equivalent to “was, were able to” when translated into Spanish. Consider:
Cuando yo era joven, jugaba al béisbol cada fin de semana.
When I was young, I would play baseball every weekend.
Cuando nosotros vivíamos en Lima, podíamos nadar más a menudo.
When we lived in Florida, we could swim more often.
Ejercicio 4. Translate into Spanish.
1. As a child, my father would help my grandmother in the house. 2. Last year they couldn’t speak Spanish. 3. When Vicky worked (used to work) at the bank, she would drink lots of coffee every morning. 4. They couldn’t read because they didn’t know how. 5. Where would you go when you were a kid?

E. Key words and phrases: Some words are used to describe frequency of a past action, imply repetitive, uncounted occurrences of that action. When one of these words or phrases appears in a sentence describing an ongoing past action, use the imperfect.
A menudo (often); a veces (sometimes); cada día; con frecuencia, cuando (whenver), de vez en cuando, frecuentemente, muchas veces, nunca, por un rato, siempre, todo el día, todo el tiempo
Ejercicio 5. Translate into Spanish.
1. I always studied before a test. 2. He frequently called me after 10pm. 3. They always cheated (engañar) whenever we played cards. 4. She never bought anything without a coupon (cupón). 5. My aunt was never happy.

F. Clock time and age in the past. When referring to time of the day or one’s age in the past always use the imperfect. There are only two verbs involved here: ser (for clock time) and tener (for age). Note that these references are made to actions generally in the preterite. Observe:
Eran las diez cuando llegué a clase. It was 10 when I arrived to class.
Mi mamá tenía 15 años cuando conoció a mi papá. My mom was 15 when she met my dad.
Ejercicio 6. Translate into Spanish.
1. It was midnight when my sister calle me. 2. What time was when you finished the book? 3. She had a baby when she was forty. 4. Where did you live when you were 14? 5. I learned how to ride a bike when I was 8 years old.

G. Había-the past of hay: Just as hay in the present tense is both singular and plural (there is, there are), its imperfect form, había (from the verb haber), means both there was and there was. Había is used to express existence, not action.
Ejercicio 7. Translate into Spanish.
1.There were twenty people at the party. 2. In the summer there were lots of children in the park. 3. There weren’t any women in the game. 4. There was garbage (basura) on the streets. 5. There wasn’t any gasoline in the tank (Any does not translate).

H. “Going to do” something in the past: The expression of intent, ir+a+infinitive (I am going to take a trip) is a mental expression: there is no physical action taking place. Such sentences in the past, therefore, will be in the imperfect.
Yo iba a comprar un carro. I was going to buy a car.
El iba a cantar. He was going to sing.
Ejercicio 8. Translate into Spanish.
1. We were going to eat. 2. When was Elena going to bring us the report? 3. How were you going to do this? 4. Were you going to call me? 5. I was going to study last night.