A2 · Elementary

The imperfect past (pretérito imperfecto)

The past tense for habits, descriptions and background — almost always regular.

Formation: regular verbs

The pretérito imperfecto is one of the easiest tenses to form: almost all verbs are regular. -ar verbs take -aba, -er and -ir verbs take -ía:

-ar: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban
-er/-ir: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían

The yo and él/ella/usted forms are identical — context (or the subject) tells you who is meant.

hablarcomervivir
yohablabacomíavivía
túhablabascomíasvivías
él/ella/ustedhablabacomíavivía
nosotros/ashablábamoscomíamosvivíamos
vosotros/ashablabaiscomíaisvivíais
ellos/ellas/ustedeshablabancomíanvivían

Examples

De niño, hablaba con mi abuela todos los días.As a child, I used to talk to my grandmother every day.
Comíamos juntos los domingos.We used to eat together on Sundays.
Vivían en un pueblo muy pequeño.They used to live in a very small village.

The three irregular verbs

In the entire Spanish language there are only three irregular verbs in the imperfecto: ser, ir and ver. Every other verb — even 'difficult' ones like tener, hacer, poder — is regular!

serirver
yoeraibaveía
túerasibasveías
él/ella/ustederaibaveía
nosotros/aséramosíbamosveíamos
vosotros/aseraisibaisveíais
ellos/ellas/ustedeseranibanveían

Examples

Cuando era pequeño, era muy tímido.When I was little, I was very shy.
Íbamos a la playa cada verano.We used to go to the beach every summer.
Veía dibujos animados por la mañana.I used to watch cartoons in the morning.

Use: habits and repeated actions

Use the imperfecto for something that happened regularly or repeatedly in the past, without a clear start or end point — a habit. In English this often translates as 'I used to...' or 'I would...'.

Examples

Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días.When I was a kid, I used to play football every day.
Mi madre siempre cocinaba los domingos.My mother always used to cook on Sundays.
Todos los veranos íbamos a casa de mis tíos.Every summer we used to go to my aunt and uncle's house.

Use: descriptions and background

The imperfecto also describes what something or someone was like in the past: appearance, feelings, age, weather, time, circumstances. It's the 'background' against which other events take place.

Examples

Hacía mucho frío esa noche.It was very cold that night.
La casa era grande y tenía un jardín precioso.The house was big and had a beautiful garden.
Eran las diez de la noche cuando llamó.It was ten o'clock at night when he/she called.

💡 Tips

💡
Recognize the imperfecto by these time markers: *antes* (before/in the past), *siempre* (always), *todos los días* (every day), *cada verano* (every summer), *normalmente*, *a menudo* (often), *mientras* (while).
💡
Think of the imperfecto as an 'unfinished photo' — an ongoing situation with no clear end, unlike the indefinido (a completed action).
💡
Remember the three irregular verbs with the mnemonic 'SIV': **S**er, **I**r, **V**er.

🎯 Practise this topic with 10 interactive exercises (10)

🔧 Verbs: Imperfect

Related grammar

The regular preterite (pretérito indefinido)
The past tense for completed events: regular -ar, -er and -ir forms.
The irregular preterite (pretérito indefinido)
The most common verbs are irregular in the indefinido: ser/ir, tener, hacer, decir and more.
Indefinido versus imperfecto
Two past tenses, one choice: what happened (indefinido) versus what the situation was (imperfecto)?
The present perfect (pretérito perfecto)
The past tense for recent events with an effect on now: haber + past participle.

← The irregular preterite (pretérito indefinido)Indefinido versus imperfecto →

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