The Imperfect tense
Spanish’s other
past tense
How to use it and how it differs from the
preterite.
Preterite tense review
● What is the preterite tense and what do we
describe with it?
o
The preterite tense is one of the two past tenses in
Spanish. We use the preterite tense to talk about
completed events in the past. We can also use the
preterite to talk about the start or end of an event.
 We traveled to California for Christmas.
 They began to eat at 6:00.
o
The other past tense is called the imperfect...
Forímation of the Imperfect tense
in Spanish
● There are two sets
of endings.
o AR verbs
o
-aba
-ábamos
-abas
-abais
-aba
-aban
ER and IR verbs
-ía
-íamos
-ías
-íais
-ía
-ían
Examples:
HABLAR
hablaba, hablabas, hablaba,
hablábamos, hablabais, hablaban
COMER
comía, comías, comía,
comíamos, comíais, comían
VIVIR
vivía, vivías, vivía, vivíamos,
vivíais, vivían
Irregular preterite verbs in
Spanish
● There are only 3 irregular verbs with the
imperfect tense: ir, ser, ver
● IR - to go
o
iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
● SER - to be
o
era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
● VER - to see
o
veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían
Use the Imperfect tense
to...
1. Indicate an action or state viewed as being in progress
in the past. It answers the question, "what was going
on?"
2. Indicate a customary or repeated action or state in the
past; repeated actions.
3. Describe a physical, mental, or emotional state in the
past.
4. Indicate time or date in the past.
5. It is used to give a person’s age in the past.
6. To give descriptions in the past or paint a background
scene in the past (including describing the weather).
When using the imperfect, the exact times
when events took place is not important. To be
1. Actions “in progress” in the past
Examples:
Yo cantaba mi canción favorita.
I was singing my favorite song.
Estábamos muy cansados.
We were (feeling) very tired.
2. Customary or repeated actions in
the past
Examples:
Cada verano mi familia iba a Disneylandia.
Every summer, my family would go to
Disneyland.
Ella siempre tocaba el piano después de la
escuela.
She always played the piano after school.
3. Describing physical, mental, or
emotional states in the past
Examples:
Tú sentías muy triste la semana pasada.
I was feeling really sad last week.
Yo estaba muy confundido en la clase de
cálculo.
I was really confused in calculus class.
4. Indicating time or date in the past
Examples:
Eran las siete y media de la mañana.
It was 7:30 in the morning.
Era viernes, nueve de junio.
It was Friday, June 9th.
5. Describing a person’s age in the
past
Examples:
Señor Yates tenía diez años en 1989.
Señor Yates was 10 years old in 1989.
6. Giving background descriptions
in the past
Examples:
La ciudad era vieja y sucia.
The city was old and dirty.
La fiesta era muy divertida y la comida
estaba buena.
The party was really fun and the food was
good.
Practice with the imperfect tense
(AR)
1. Yo _____ (hablar) por teléfono con amigos.
2. Tú _____ (acampar) en el bosque.
3. Él _____ (estudiar) para el examen en la clase de
biología.
4. Ella _____ (hornear) un pastel en la cocina.
5. Usted _____ (nadar) en el lago.
6. Nosotros ____ (dibujar) en nuestros cuadernos.
7. Ellos _____ (dar) un paseo en el parque.
8. Ellas _____ (pasar) una tarde (afternoon) con mi familia.
Practice with the imperfect tense
(ER/IR)
1.Yo _____ (leer) revista
2.Tú _____ (correr) para mantenerte saludable
3.Él _____ (divertirse) con amigos
4.Ella _____ (comer) muchas frutas de niña
5.Usted _____ (tener) un picnic
6.Nosotros _____ (hacer) mucho ejercicio en el gimnasio.
7.Ustedes _____ (vivir) en Tucson
8. Yo _____ (escribir) un informe toda la noche
Preterite or Imperfect?
● You want to describe how you were feeling last
week.
● You are describing something you liked to do when
you were younger.
● You are talking about what you did at 2:00
yesterday.
● You are telling your friend where you went for
dinner last night.
● You are talking about a place you used to go every
spring break on vacation.
● You are saying when you finished your homework.
● You are saying what time it was when you got
Preterite or Imperfect?
Last summer, I went to Mexico with my family. Everyone
was very excited when we arrived at the airport. While my
mother was checking the luggage and my father was
handling the tickets, my little sister Mary ran away. My
parents dropped everything and tried to catch her, but she
ducked behind the counter. Finally a manager grabbed her
and brought her back to us. She was crying because she
was sad that she was leaving her dog for two weeks.
Everyone comforted her and, finally, she smiled and
boarded the plane.