The Imperfect

The imperfect is one of the past tenses in Spanish used to describe settings, habitual actions and conditions in the past.

The imperfect is used to: – set the scene – talk about states or conditions in the past – express emotions in the past – talk about things that happened repeatedly in the past – talk about things that happened over an extended period of time in the past -- describe things in the past

In English, it might be part of the story

that describes: – what you played when you were little – what your family used to do every Friday night – how you were feeling – the warm, sunny weather – your mom’s job for the past 10 years ---What you were like when you were young (description in the past)

To form the imperfect: 1.Take off the -AR, -ER or -IR ending

2. Add endings to the stem according to the subject.

-AR verbs -aba -ábamos -abas -abais -aba -aban

-ER/-IR verbs -ía -íamos -ías -íais -ía -ían

Examples:

Mi hermano y yo jugábamos al Monopoly todos los días. – My brother and I used to play Monopoly every day.

Ferb manejaba muy rápido y recibía muchas multas. – Ferb used to drive very fast and used to receive many tickets.

Homer y Marge vivían en Aruba. – Homer and Marge used to live in Aruba.

Yo comía hamburguesas todos los viernes. – I used to eat hamburgers every Friday.

TOJO! Remember to use tener to talk about someone’s age.

Example: Cuando tenía cinco años... – When I was 5

years old ...

Ser, ir and ver in the imperfect Ser (to be), ir (to go) and ver (to see) are the only verbs that

are irregular in the imperfect tense. Here is how they are conjugated:

ser – to be ir- to go ver- to see era éramos iba íbamos veía veíamos eras erais ibas ibais veías veíais era eran iba iban veía veían

TOJO! Notice that ser and ir have an accent mark over the first vowel in the nosotros/as form.

Iba + a + infinitive A useful expression using the verb ir is iba a... (I was going to ...). This phrase is always followed by an infinitive verb.

Example: Iba a manejar al parque. – I was going to drive to the park.

El tiempo Weather descriptions are often in the imperfect tense because they describe ongoing states or conditions.

Examples: Hacía frío cuando estaba en México. – It was cold when I was in Mexico.

Estaba nublado durante el concierto de Shakira. – It was cloudy during the Shakira concert.

What does it mean?

1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.-

What does it mean?

1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer.

What does it mean?

1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer. 2. Yo dormía en la bañera todas las noches.-

What does it mean?

1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer. 2. Yo dormía en la bañera todas las noches.- I used to sleep in the bathtub every night.

What does it mean?

1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer. 2. Yo dormía en la bañera todas las noches.- I used to sleep in the bathtub every night. 3. Mis perros miraban Dancing with the Stars los lunes.-

What does it mean?

1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer. 2. Yo dormía en la bañera todas las noches.- I used to sleep in the bathtub every night. 3. Mis perros miraban Dancing with the Stars los lunes.- My dogs used to watch Dancing with the Stars on Mondays.

What does it mean? 1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer. 2. Yo dormía en la bañera todas las noches.- I used to sleep in the bathtub every night. 3. Mis perros miraban Dancing with the Stars los lunes.- My dogs used to watch Dancing with the Stars on Mondays. 4. Adam Sandler estaba contento en los Premios de la Academia.-

What does it mean? 1. Beyoncé viajaba a Nueva York todos los veranos.- Beyoncé used to travel to New York every summer. 2. Yo dormía en la bañera todas las noches.- I used to sleep in the bathtub every night. 3. Mis perros miraban Dancing with the Stars los lunes.- My dogs used to watch “Dancing with the Stars” on Mondays. 4. Adam Sandler estaba contento en los Premios de la Academia.- Adam Sandler was happy at the “Academy Awards.”

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. -

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos.

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.-

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype.

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype. 3. The members of One Direction used to fly to Los Angeles every week.-

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype. 3. The members of One Direction used to fly to Los Angeles every week.- Los miembros de One Direction volaban a Los Ángeles todas las semanas.

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype. 3. The members of One Direction used to fly to Los Angeles every week.- Los miembros de One Direction volaban a Los Ángeles todas las semanas. 4. It was very hot when we (masculine) arrived.-

Try it out!

1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype. 3. The members of One Direction used to fly to Los Angeles every week.- Los miembros de One

Direction volaban a Los Ángeles todas las semanas. 4. It was very hot when we (masculine) arrived.- Hacía mucho calor cuando nosotros llegamos.

Try it out! 1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype. 3. The members of One Direction used to fly to Los Angeles every week.- Los miembros de One Direction volaban a Los Ángeles todas las semanas. 4. It was very hot when we (masculine) arrived.- Hacía mucho calor cuando nosotros llegamos. 5. We (masculine) used to play with the videogame Angry Birds every day.-

Try it out! 1. I used to run 20 miles on Sundays. - Yo corría veinte millas los domingos. 2. Lady Gaga used to talk on Skype.- Lady Gaga hablaba por Skype. 3. The members of One Direction used to fly to Los Angeles every week.- Los miembros de One Direction volaban a Los Ángeles todas las semanas. 4. It was very hot when we (masculine) arrived.- Hacía mucho calor cuando nosotros llegamos. 5. We (masculine) used to play with the videogame AngryBirds every day.- Nosotros jugábamos con el videojuego Angry Birds todos los días.