the imperfect tense: regular verbs preterite you have already learned to talk about the past using...
TRANSCRIPT
THE IMPERFECT TENSE:REGULAR VERBS
PRETERITE• You have already learned to talk
about the past using the preterite tense for actions that began and ended at a definite time.
PRETERITE• Ana cantó en la fiesta anoche.• Ana sang at the party last night.
• Completed past action
IMPERFECT• The imperfect tense is another
way to talk about the past. We use it to describe actions without any indication of their beginning or end.
IMPERFECT• Ana cantaba.• Ana was singing.
• No indication of beginning or end.
IMPERFECT• We use the imperfect to talk about
actions that happened repeatedly in the past. In English we often say “used to” or “would” to express this idea.
IMPERFECT• Caminaban mucho.• They would walk a lot.
IMPERFECT
• Jugaban con otros niños de la familia.• They used to play with other children
in the family.
• Most present tense irregular verbs/stem-changers only are irregular/stem-change in present tense.
IMPERFECT• Expressions such as generalmente,
a menudo, muchas veces, todos los días, siempre, and nunca can cue us to use the imperfect.
IMPERFECT• Here are all the forms of -ar verbs
in the imperfect. Notice the accent mark on the nosotros form.
Yo caminaba
Tú caminabas
Él
Ella caminaba
Ud.
Nos. caminábamos
Vos. caminabais
Ellos
Ellas caminaban
Uds.
CAMINAR (TO WALK)
• Since the yo and the Ud./él/ella forms are the same, we often use the subject pronouns to avoid confusion.
Imperfect
IMPERFECT
Let’s do a few more verbs.
Yo patinaba
Tú patinabas
Él
Ella patinaba
Ud.
Nos. patinábamos
Vos. patinabais
Ellos
Ellas patinaban
Uds.
PATINAR (TO SKATE)
Yo usaba
Tú usabas
Él
Ella usaba
Ud.
Nos. usábamos
Vos. usabais
Ellos
Ellas usaban
Uds.
USAR (TO USE)
Yo jugaba
Tú jugabas
Él
Ella jugaba
Ud.
Nos. jugábamos
Vos. jugabais
Ellos
Ellas jugaban
Uds.
JUGAR (TO PLAY) REMEMBER: JUGAR IS ONLY A STEM-CHANGER IN PRESENT TENSE!
IMPERFECT• Now we will learn the -er/-ir verb
endings in the imperfect tense.
Yo comía
Tú comías
Él
Ella comía
Ud.
Nos. comíamos
Vos. comíais
Ellos
Ellas comían
Uds.
COMER (TO EAT)
Yo vivía
Tú vivías
Él
Ella vivía
Ud.
Nos. vivíamos
Vos. vivíais
Ellos
Ellas vivían
Uds.
VIVIR (TO LIVE)
Let’s review once more.
Yo comía
Tú comíasÉlElla comíaUd.
Nos. comíamos
Vos. comíaisEllosEllas comíanUds.
COMER (TO EAT)
Yo vivía
Tú vivías
Él
Ella vivía
Ud.
Nos. vivíamos
Vos. vivíais
Ellos
Ellas vivían
Uds.
VIVIR (TO LIVE)