the imperfect tense the imperfect tense in spanish is used to describe things that used to happen...
TRANSCRIPT
THE IMPERFECT TENSE
The imperfect tense in Spanish is used to
• describe things that used to happen
• places,objects and people (in the past)
• give background description that is secondary to the main action.
It is formed by taking the stem of the infinitive and adding the endings as follows
Ar verbs e.g. hablar
Yo hablaba
Tú hablabas
Él/ella/usted hablaba
Nosotros hablábamos
Vosotros hablabais
Ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaban
Er verbs
E.g. comer
Yo comía
Tú comías
Él/ella/usted comía
Nosotros comíamos
Vosotros comíais
Ellos/ellas/ustedes comían
E.g. vivir
Yo vivíaTú vivías
Él/ella/usted vivía
Nosotros vivíamosVosotros vivíaisEllos/ellas/ustedes vivían
IR verbs
Guess the good news?
There are only THREE irregular verbs in the imperfect!
SER—to be (P)ERAERASERAÉRAMOSERAISERAN
IR—to goIBA
IBASIBA
ÍBAMOSIBAISIBAN
VER—to seeVEÍA
VEÍASVEÍA
VEÍAMOSVEÍAISVEÍAN
The imperfect
The preterite
The imperfect sets the scene in the past and thepreterite ‘crashes’into it, with a single action.
• Things that used to happen
Cuando era joven me gustaba ir al parque todos los días.
When I was young I used to like going to the park every day.
• Places,objects and people (in the past)
La chica era alta,tenía el pelo largo y llevaba gafas
The girl was tall, had long hair and wore glasses
• Background description that is secondary to the • main action (in the past)
Eran las doce de la noche. Hacía viento y llovía. El asesino entró en la casa con una pistola.
It was midnight. It was windy and it was raining. The murderer entered the house with a pistol.