The Imperfect Tense
The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly.
Yo caminaba cada día. - I used to walk every day.
The imperfect tense is also used to refer to actions in the past that occurred over an extended period of time.
Yo comía frecuentemente pollo. - I used to eat chicken frequently.
The imperfect tense is also used to “set the stage” for an event that occurred in the past.
Veníamos para casa cuando vimos a Juan. - We were coming home when we saw Juan.
Actions which are not physical, that is feelings and mental actions, usually use the imperfect tense.
Juan estaba enfermo. - Juan was feeling sick.
The imperfect is frequently associated with phrases that describe the frequency of past actions.
a menudo - often
a veces - sometimes
cada día - every day
cada año - every year
con frecuencia - frequently
de vez en cuando - from time to time
en aquella época - at that time
frecuentemente - frequently
generalmente - usually
muchas veces - many times
mucho - a lot
nunca - never
por un rato - for awhile
siempre - always
tantas veces - so many times
todas las semanas - every week
todos los días - every day
todo el tiempo - all the time
varias veces - several times
Regular forms of the imperfect are formed by adding the following endings to the stem of the verb:
-ar verbs
-er verbs, -ir verbs
aba
ía
abas
ías
aba
ía
ábamos
íamos
abais
íais
aban
ían
Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect
Ser
Ir
Ver
era
iba
veía
eras
ibas
veías
era
iba
veía
éramos
íbamos
veíamos
erais
ibais
veíais
eran
iban
veían
The Subjunctive Tense
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