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I’m a pretty big fan of the Imperfect Tense because there are so few irregular verbs… just IR, SER, VER and I guess you could add PREVER and make it a nice even four irregulars. However, I have to admit that learning how to form the Imperfect Tense in Spanish can, at times, be a little easier than using it because it’s not the only past tense and can sometimes cause the learner to be unsure of when to use it.

For now, I’d say learn how to form it and the rules of when to use it (which will work in the majority of situations). Then, once you learn the other major past tense (The Preterite), you can start honing in on which one to choose. By that time, you’ll be an expert at both major past tenses and you’ll be ready to study my Imperfect VS Preterite blog, which will really help with those odd occasions where you unsure of which past tense to use.

When to use the Imperfect Tense:

We use the Imperfect Tense to talk about what was going on over a period of time, or what used to happen. Sometimes people refer to the Imperfect Tense as the DOT DOT DOT past because it is used to talk about something that was going on or happened habitually, and would leave several dots on a history timeline.

Therefore, if what you want to say could be translated in either of the following ways, you need the Imperfect Tense:

I used to…	I used to live in Spain. Vivía en España.
I was ____ ing.	I was living in Spain when… Vivía en España cuando…

How to form the Imperfect Tense:

There are only two endings to learn for the imperfect tense. One ending is for -AR verbs and the other ending is for -IR and -ER verbs. Here they are:

For verbs with -AR endings, simply remove the -AR and add:

• -aba
• -abas
• -aba
• -ábamos
• -abais
• -aban

Here’s an -AR verb in action:

Hablar	To speak/talk
(Yo) hablaba	I used to speak / I was speaking
(Tú) hablabas	You used to speak / You were speaking
(Él/ Ella/Usted) hablaba	(S)he used to speak / (S)he was speaking & You (polite) used to speak /were speaking
(Nosotros/Nosotras) hablábamos	We used to speak / We were speaking
(Vosotros/Vosotras) hablabaís	All of you used to speak / All of you were speaking
(Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes) hablaban	They used to speak / They were speaking & All of you (polite) used to speak /were speaking

For verbs with -ER/-IR endings, simply remove the -ER or -IR and add:

• ía
• ías
• ía
• íamos
• íais
• ían

Here’s a popular -ER verb:

Comer	To eat
(Yo) comía	I used to eat/ I was eating
(Tú) comías	You used to eat/ You were eating
(Él/ Ella/Usted) comía	(S)he used to eat/ (S)he was eating & You (polite) used to eat /were eating
(Nosotros/Nosotras) comíamos	We used to eat/ We were eating
(Vosotros/Vosotras) comíais	All of you used to eat/ All of you were eating
(Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes) comían	They used to eat/ They were eating & All of you (polite) used to eat/ were eating

Here’s an example of an -IR verb:

Vivir	To live
(Yo) vivía	I used to live/ I was living
(Tú) vivías	You used to live/ You were living
(Él/ Ella/Usted) vivía	(S)he used to live/ (S)he was living & You (polite) used to live/ were living
(Nosotros/Nosotras) vivíamos	We used to live/ We were living
(Vosotros/Vosotras) vivíais	All of you used to live/ All of you were living
(Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes) vivían	They used to live/ They were living & All of you (polite) used to live/ were living

That’s it… Just two sets of endings to learn!

The 4 Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect Tense aren’t scary at all!

Considering there are so few Irregular verbs, it’s worth including them here. However, feel free to hold off on reading this section for the moment and keep working on the interactive practice activities using the regular verbs in the Imperfect Tense. Once you have had some practice and gained confidence with the regular verbs, head back here and read on…

Here are the 4 Irregular verbs in the Imperfect Tense:

SER (To be)	IR (To go)	VER (To see)	PREVER (To forecast/foresee)
era eras era éramos erais eran	iba ibas iba íbamos ibais iban	veía veías veía veíamos veíais veían	preveía preveías preveía preveíamos preveíais preveían

Take a look at these examples for a little bit of context:

• Era profesor antes de devenir taxista.
• I used to be a teacher before becoming a taxi driver.

• Iba al cine cuando vi a Jorge.
• I was going to the cinema when I saw George.

• Veía la tele cuando el teléfono sonó.
• I was watching TV when the phone rang.

• Mi abuelita siempre preveía la nieve.
• My granny always used to predict the snow.

• Iban a la casa de sus primos cada sábado cuando eran niños.
• They used to go to their cousin’s house every Saturday when they were children.

• Mi hermana y yo veíamos una película todos los domingos por la mañana.
• My sister and I used to watch a film every Sunday morning.

That’s it… just four irregular verbs in the Imperfect Tense and to be honest VER and PREVER are only considered irregular because you don’t drop the -ER. You only drop the -R from the stem and the endings are as they should be… ía/ías/ía/íamos/íais/ían.

What if I’m not 100% sure when to use the Imperfect Tense?

Most of the time you will know when to use the Imperfect Tense because you’ll want to say ‘I used to…’ or ‘I was___ing’. However, it might not always be that obvious because there are times when you may need the Imperfect Tense but you don’t necessarily want to say ‘I used to…’ or ‘I was___ing’.

For example, if you want to say ‘when I was younger…’. For the ‘I was’ you would need to use the Imperfect Tense but it would sound a bit strange if you said ‘When I used to be younger…’ or ‘when I was being younger…’.

On these occasions you need to ask yourself… am I talking about something that was the case over a period of time (i,e, dot dot dot past) or am I talking about something that happened as a one off (usually a single action) and considered just one dot in history (this would then be the other main past tense… the Preterite).

The other indicator of which tense to use is when you are saying a time phase that tends to link to habitual or ongoing actions.

For example:

Everyday	Todos los días
Every week	Todas las semanas
Always	Siempre
Usually	Usualmente

If you are using time phrases like the ones in the table above, you can be quite confident that you need to use the Imperfect Tense.

At the end of the day…

With all this in mind, there may still be times when you are unsure, but for 95% of the time you’ll get it right if you ask yourself the following and the answer is yes:

1. Are you saying ‘I used to…’ or ‘I was_____ing’?
2. Is there perhaps a time phrase that links to habitual or on going actions, which makes it more obvious, such as ‘every week’ or ‘always’?
3. Would what you are saying make a series of ‘dot dot dots’ on a history timeline, rather than leave just one dot?

For now, I would say… don’t sweat it! Just get used to forming the Imperfect Tense in Spanish and use it where you think you should, based on the above. Yes, you may make the odd mistake, but you’ll still be understood.

Once you are more confident in forming and using the Imperfect Tense (and after learning about the Preterite Tense), if you really want to get into the nitty gritty you can check out my Imperfect VS Preterite blog. That’ll help you iron out any left-over doubt.

Just remember that when it comes to deciding when to use the Imperfect Tense, there’s no rush to perfection. With language learning, you will forever be learning something new and improving your understanding.

If you are getting it right most of the time you are doing pretty great!

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