Capítulo 4A El Imperfecto – Conjugación

There are 2 past tenses in Spanish:  Preterite – expresses completed past actions: Ayer caminé al mercado. Ayer caminé al mercado.  Imperfect – expresses the past, but does not indicate specifically when the event or condition began or ended: Cada día caminaba al mercado.

Los verbos regulares

-ar verbs  -aba  -abas  -aba  -ábamos  -abais  -aban The first and third person are alike. Subject pronouns can be used for clarification.

llevar – to carry, wear  llevaba – I was wearing / used to wear  llevabas – you were wearing / used to wear  llevaba – he, she, you polite was or were wearing / used to wear  llevábamos – we were wearing / used to wear  llevabais – you were wearing / used to wear  llevaban – they or you were wearing / used to wear. El chico llevaba un paraguas.

-er and –ir verbs  - ía  - ías  - ía  - íamos  - íais  - ían The first and third person are alike. Subject pronouns can be used for clarification.

volver- to return  volvía – I was returning/used to return  volvías  volvía  volvíamos  volvíais  volvían Los vecinos volvían tarde. * Notice that the “o” in volver does not stem–change.

dormirse – to fall asleep  me dormía – I was falling asleep/used to  te dormías  se dormía  nos dormíamos  os dormíais  se dormían  Yo siempre me dormía antes de las nueve. The verbs that are reflexive will continue to be reflexive in the imperfect tense.

The imperfect verb había (haber) is equivalent to:  There was  There were  Había un mexicano en la clase.  Había dos montañas rusas en el parque.

The imperfect tense is used to express: 1.Ongoing past action 2.Repeated, habitual action 3.Long standing situation

1. ongoing past action  Miraban la televisión cuando Paco llamó.  They were watching TV when Paco called.  Escribía una carta cuando saliste.  I was writing a letter when you left.

2. repeated or habitual action  Siempre comíamos en esa restaurante.  We always used to eat / would eat at that restaurant.  Tomaba café todos los días.  I used to drink / would drink coffee every day.

3. long-standing situation  Vivía en Costa Rica.  I was living in Costa Rica.  Estudiaba en ese colegio.  I was studying at that school.

Ahora clase, vamos a practicar. Ciao.