6 El Imperfecto / The Imperfect (Amaba)
El Imperfecto / The Imperfect (Amaba)
The imperfect tense is the past tense that is used to talk about repeated or continual actions, such as “I went swimming every day”, “I was eating breakfast” or “I used to go to the cinema”. The following table shows how to conjugate regular verbs in the imperfect tense.
|
Person
|
ar
|
er
|
ir
|
|
Verb ➡
|
hablar
|
comer
|
vivir
|
|
Stem ➡
|
habl-
|
com-
|
viv-
|
|
Yo
|
hablaba
|
comía
|
vivía
|
|
Tú
|
hablabas
|
comías
|
vivías
|
|
Él/Ella/Usted
|
hablaba
|
comía
|
vivía
|
|
Nosotros/Nosotras
|
hablábamos
|
comíamos
|
vivíamos
|
|
Vosotros/Vosotras
|
hablabais
|
comíais
|
vivíais
|
|
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes
|
hablaban
|
comían
|
vivían
|
There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect: ser, ver and ir. Let’s look at how to conjugate them in the imperfect:
|
Personal Pronouns
|
ser
|
ver
|
ir
|
|
Yo
|
era
|
veía
|
iba
|
|
Tú
|
eras
|
veías
|
ibas
|
|
Él/Ella/Usted
|
era
|
veía
|
iba
|
|
Nosotros/Nosotras
|
éramos
|
veíamos
|
íbamos
|
|
Vosotros/Vosotras
|
erais
|
veíais
|
ibais
|
|
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes
|
eran
|
veían
|
iban
|
Reflexive Verbs and the Imperfect
In the Imperfect, the reflexive pronoun (se) goes before the main verb as a separate word, and the main verb is conjugated according to the rules of the Imperfect above. The following table shows the reflexive verb lavarse (to wash oneself) in the Imperfect.
|
Person
|
lavarse
|
English
|
|
Yo
|
me lavaba
|
I washed myself
I was washing myself I used to wash myself |
|
Tú
|
te lavabas
|
You washed yourself
You were washing yourself You used to wash yourself |
|
Él/Ella/Usted
|
se lavaba
|
He washed himself/She washed herself/You washed yourself
He was washing himself/She was washing herself/You were washing yourself He used to wash himself/She used to wash herself/You used to wash yourself |
|
Nosotros/Nosotras
|
nos lavábamos
|
We washed ourselves
We were washing ourselves We used to wash ourselves |
|
Vosotros/Vosotras
|
os lavabais
|
You (all) washed yourselves
You (all) were washing yourselves You (all) used to wash yourselves |
|
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes
|
se lavaban
|
They washed themselves
They were washing themselves They used to wash themselves |
