A Complete Guide to Imperfect Conjugation for Beginners (2024)

Do you already know about “imperfect conjugation”?

If you’re starting to learn Spanish, you’re probably already familiar with its grammar and how complicated it can be.

But don’t worry. Learning to use each Spanish structure, such as the “imperfect conjugation,” will help you build a strong foundation in Spanish verb conjugation.

So, keep reading this comprehensive guide to understanding and using the imperfect tense in Spanish.

What’s the Imperfect Tense in Spanish?

In a few words, the imperfect tense in Spanish is used to describe the past but is different from the past tense.

With this tense, you can talk about a past action that was done in a continuous state, a past action that was being done before it was interrupted by a different action, or describe age, feelings, time, and dates in the past.

You can also use it to describe the appearance of a person or thing in the past, habits or routines in the past, contrast between the past and now, and periods of time in the past.

It’s one of the easiest Spanish tenses to use, as it has few irregularities.

It’s so trouble-free that students overuse it, as they find other Spanish past tenses more challenging to conjugate.

Read also: Preterite vs Imperfect: A Beginner’s Guide to the Past Tense in Spanish

Regular Verbs in the Spanish Imperfect Tense

Let’s start this guide with the regular verb conjugation patterns in the imperfect tense.

Spanish verbs come in three categories: –ar, –er, and –ir. These verbs change according to who performed it and when the action occurs.

There is one conjugation for the –ar verbs and another for the –er and –ir verbs.

In this chart, we give you a basic guide to the endings of verbs according to their category so you can use it to learn the structure.

-Ar Verbs

To conjugate -ar verbs in the Spanish imperfect tense, simply remove the infinitive ending –ar and add –aba to the imperfect ending. Easy, right?

When you conjugate, you will realize that first-person and third-person singular words are identical.

Be careful to place the accent on the conjugation of the first-person plural, nosotros.

This is an example with the verb soñar, (to dream).

Nosotros soñábamos con viajar a Perú y finalmente lo logramos.
We dreamed of traveling to Peru, and we finally achieved it.

Cuando era pequeña, soñaba constantemente con monstruos de humo.
When I was little, I constantly dreamed about monsters made of smoke.

Practice conjugating –ar regular verbs in Spanish with the imperfect tense in the following chart:

-Er and -Ir Verbs

To conjugate –er and –ir verbs in the imperfect tense, you only need to remove the infinitive ending –er or –ir and add the imperfect –ía ending.

Here, the first-person and third-person singular are also identical.

Let’s see an example with the verb leer (to read).

Tú leías mucho más cuando eras pequeña.
You read a lot more when you were little.

Ellos leían mientras sus papás preparaban el almuerzo.
They read while their parents prepared lunch.

Practice on your own the rest of the –er and –ir verbs that we share with you in the following chart:

We recommend: Preterite and Imperfect: Reading and Practice in Story Form

Irregular Verbs in the Spanish Imperfect Tense

The main and most significant difference between regular and irregular verbs is that there’s only three of them: ir (to go), ser (to be), and ver (to see).

Another difference between irregular verbs is that when they’re conjugated, they change or alter their composition, just as their name suggests.

Let’s see how the three irregular verbs are conjugated in the Spanish imperfect tense.

Imperfect Conjugation for Ir (To Go)

Ellos iban a jugar al parque todos los fines de semana.
They went to play in the park every weekend.

Imperfect Conjugation for Ser (To Be)

Nosotros éramos los que apoyábamos a los guardabosques todos los fines de semana.
We were the ones who supported the Rangers every weekend.

Imperfect Conjugation for Ver (To See)

En la época de guerra veíamos cómo las enfermeras luchaban para curar soldados.
During wartime, we saw how nurses fought to cure soldiers.

Let’s practice these verbs!

Complete the following sentences with the correct irregular verb in imperfect tense:

Antes de casarme, yo ______ todas las mañanas al gimnasio.
Before I got married, I went to the gym every morning.

Mi hermano era adorable cuando ______ 5 años.
My brother used to be adorable when he was 5 years old.

Antes de conocerte, ______ mi futuro de una manera diferente.
Before I met you, I used to see my future differently.

When to Use the Spanish Imperfect Tense

As we mentioned at the beginning, the imperfect tense Spanish is one of the easiest to conjugate.

If you want to know which one to use, ask yourself whether the action in the sentence has a definitive completion time. If you don’t have it, then use the imperfect tense.

But that’s not enough. There are also other uses for the imperfect ending.

Here, we share some of them, plus some tips to use them correctly.

1. To Talk About Past Habitual and Repeated Actions

If you did something repeatedly in the past, you should use this tense. In this case, you will mostly translate the sentence with “used to” or “would.”

Cuando era niña jugaba deportes todos los días de la semana.
When I was a child, I used to play sports every day of the week.

2. To Talk About Past Actions in Progress

You use the imperfect tense to say something that was happening when the action was interrupted.

Iba al trabajo cuando me chocaron.
I was going to work when I was hit.

3. To Give Past Dates and Times

If you want to tell a past date or time.

Eran las 2 de la madrugada cuando los vecinos empezaron a hacer ruido.
It was 2 in the morning when the neighbors started making noise.

4. To Talk About Someone’s Age in the Past

Use the imperfect tense when you wish to mention somebody’s age in the past.

Mi papá tenía 28 años cuando compró nuestra casa.
My dad was 28 years old when he bought our house.

5. To Talk About Characteristics, Conditions, and Feelings in the Past

If you want to write a story that happened in the past, all the imagery and descriptive detail will go in the imperfect tense.

El mar era una calma absoluta.
The sea was absolutely calm.

El tío de Pedro era alto y muy flaco.
Pedro’s uncle was tall and very skinny.

Cuando veía a mi hija graduarse, me sentía la mamá más orgullosa del mundo.
When I saw my daughter graduate, I felt like the proudest mom in the world.

6. To Express the Contrast Between Present and Past States

If you want to compare what the situation was like in the past versus the present, this is the tense for you.

Antes comía muchos dulces y pasteles, ahora no lo hago.
I used to eat a lot of sweets and cakes, but now I don’t.

7. To Describe Two Actions Happening at the Same Time in the Past

To use the imperfect Spanish tense when talking about two simultaneous actions in the past, in Spanish, we use the word mientras, which means “while.”

Los estudiantes tomaban el examen mientras la maestra observaba los movimientos atentamente.
The students took the test while the teacher closely observed their movements.

Editor’s pick: 50 Irregular Preterite Spanish Verbs You Want to Use Often

Common Phrases and Expressions of Spanish Imperfect Tense

To help you a little more, we will give you a list of trigger words that indicate that you should use the imperfect tense in the Spanish conjugation.

These are common signal phrases and time expressions that often accompany the imperfect tense.

Casi siempre comía una manzana en el desayuno.
I almost always ate an apple for breakfast.

Casi nunca me levantaba a las 6:00 de la mañana.
I almost never got up at 6:00 in the morning.

Siempre escogía el helado de vainilla.
I always chose vanilla ice cream.

Todas las semanas visitábamos un nuevo restaurante.
Every week we visited a new restaurant.

En la escuela con frecuencia jugábamos basketball.
At school, we frequently played basketball.

Yo nunca usaba protector solar en la piscina.
I never wore sunscreen in the pool.

A menudo veía telenovelas con mi mamá.
I often watched soap operas with my mother.

Cuando era adolescente, a veces me escapaba de la escuela para jugar boliche.
When I was a teenager, I would sometimes sneak out of school to go bowling.

Normalmente prefería quedarme en casa para las vacaciones de verano.
I usually prefer to stay home for summer vacations.

Tips and Strategies for Mastering Imperfect Conjugation

Although imperfect tense may be tricky to master, there are some strategies you should take into account to learn all about it, and how to use it in conversations.

When you have doubts about whether or not you should use it in your sentence, ask these three practical questions:

1. Do I know when exactly the action started or finished?

2. Is there a clear beginning or end?

3. Did it happen only once at a specific moment in time?

If the answer to all of these questions is no, then you should definitely use the imperfect in your communication.

It may also help you to know that, sometimes, people call it a “historic” tense, as the actions described in the imperfect tense have no connections to the present.

You’ll see later that you can translate the imperfect tense in Spanish in different ways into English.

So, don’t get confused!

Remember that the past tense refers to a one-time, isolated event of the past. The imperfect tense describes past events that occurred in a customary manner.

As the past tense, imperfect tense also breaks down verbs into five different ending variants, you have probably realized how it works.

Imperfect Tense Is Crucial to Learn Spanish!

Now you see how easy and quick it is to learn the imperfect tense in Spanish!

To use it fluently in your conversations, essays, and interactions with Spanish speakers, you must constantly practice the conjugation of regular and irregular verbs.

It’s okay to make mistakes. It’s thanks to them that we can continue to learn, and we can also know what area we need to reinforce.

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