Post by moon125 on Nov 4, 2024 0:26:22 GMT -5
What is the Pretérito Imperfecto – or the imperfect past tense in Spanish?
The preterite imperfecto, or the imperfect past in Spanish, is a very common verb tense in the language.
Just like the imperfect past tense that we know in Portuguese, it is a verbal tense that allows us to describe a past action that took place over a certain period of time.
But how do you use the imperfect past tense in Spanish? The conjugation of the imperfect past tense in Spanish is reasonably simple and has only three exceptions, which will be shown below. When to use the Imperfect Past in Spanish? The imperfect past tense is used in the Spanish language in the following circumstances: When narrating situations, events, things or people from the past. Due to this narrative function, the imperfect past tense can be widely found in fictional texts.
For example: Once upon a time, there shopify website design was a king and a queen who lived in a large castle. [Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen who lived in a large castle.]
When describing habitual actions carried out in the past, that is, routines.
For example: When I was 15 years old, I took piano lessons. [When I was 15, I took piano lessons.]
By demonstrating that one action was performed while another was occurring.
For example: Maria played with her stuffed animals while her mother worked . [Maria played with her stuffed animals while her mother worked.]
When describing unfinished situations that were interrupted before reaching their end.
For example: I was sleeping when I stopped waking up and woke me up.
To make a request in a polite manner.
For example: I would like two tickets, please.
The time markers
Tense markers, or temporal markers, can be great indicators for determining which verb tense should be used in a sentence.
In this case, the following temporal markers are usually accompanied by the imperfect past tense in Spanish:
Spanish imperfect tense
At that time… [In those times…]
Around that time… [At that time…]
When I was young… [When I was young…]
Normally… [Normally…]
Every month/day/week/year/months/summer/etc. … [Every month/day/week/year/etc. …]
Daily… [Every day/daily…]
Often… [Often…]
…While… […while…]
The formation of the imperfect past tense in Spanish
The imperfect past tense of regular verbs
The following steps describe the process used to put a regular Spanish verb into its imperfect past tense form:
First, take the verb in its infinitive form (for example: cantar, leer or escribir );
Then, the infinitive marking of the verb (-ar, -er or -ir) is removed ;
Then, the endings of the imperfect tense are added , which vary according to the ending of the regular verb (-ar, -er or -ir).
See below how to form this for each type of regular verb:
Regular verbs of the first conjugation (ending in -ar)
For any regular Spanish verb ending in -ar , the imperfect tense endings for each person will be as follows:
I -tab
You -tabs
He/she/you -tab
Us -abamos
You others -abais
They/you/them -aban
For example:
Walk
I walk up
You walk on wings
He/she/you walk up
We walked together
You walk below
Ellos/ellas/ustedes camin aban
Regular verbs of the second conjugation (ending in -er)
Likewise, for any regular Spanish verb ending in -er , the imperfect tense endings for each person will be as follows:
I -ia
You -ias
He/she/you -ia
Us -we were going
You others -yes
They/you/them -ian
For example:
Read
I was going to
You went there
He/she/you went there
We were going there
Your loyal friends
They/you are the ian
Regular verbs of the third conjugation (ending in -ir)
And finally, for any regular Spanish verb ending in -ir , the imperfect tense endings for each person will be as follows:
I -ia
You -ias
He/she/you -ia
Us -we were going
You others -yes
They/you/them -ian
For example:
Read
I wrote
You wrote
He/she/you wrote
We were writing
Your writers
Ellos/ellas/ustedes escrib ían
The imperfect past tense of irregular verbs
There are only three verbs that are quite easy to memorize that do not follow the rules described above for forming the imperfect past tense in Spanish. These are therefore called irregular.
They are:
Go
To be
See
In the imperfect tense, these verbs are conjugated as follows:
The imperfect tense of irregular verbs in Spanish
Go To be See
Yo iba I was I came
You guys You were You veins
He/she/you came He/she/you were He/she/you came
We were We were We saw
Your equals You were others Your eyes are open
They/you iban They/you were They/you/are coming
The accentuation of verbs in the imperfect past tense
To write this verb tense correctly, it is important to remember that:
Regular verbs ending in -er and -ir always have an acute accent on the letter “i” in their imperfect ending, in order to break up diphthongs.
For example:
Lose (-er): Perdía / perdías / perdía / perdidos / perdíais / perdían
Ask (-ir): Pedía / pedías / pedía / pedamos / pedíais / pedían
List of Spanish verbs in the imperfect past tense
Below are some more examples of common Spanish verbs conjugated in the imperfect:
-AIR -ER -GO
Talk Have Decide
I spoke I had I said
You spoke You had You said
He/she/you said He/she/you had He/she/you said.
The preterite imperfecto, or the imperfect past in Spanish, is a very common verb tense in the language.
Just like the imperfect past tense that we know in Portuguese, it is a verbal tense that allows us to describe a past action that took place over a certain period of time.
But how do you use the imperfect past tense in Spanish? The conjugation of the imperfect past tense in Spanish is reasonably simple and has only three exceptions, which will be shown below. When to use the Imperfect Past in Spanish? The imperfect past tense is used in the Spanish language in the following circumstances: When narrating situations, events, things or people from the past. Due to this narrative function, the imperfect past tense can be widely found in fictional texts.
For example: Once upon a time, there shopify website design was a king and a queen who lived in a large castle. [Once upon a time, there was a king and a queen who lived in a large castle.]
When describing habitual actions carried out in the past, that is, routines.
For example: When I was 15 years old, I took piano lessons. [When I was 15, I took piano lessons.]
By demonstrating that one action was performed while another was occurring.
For example: Maria played with her stuffed animals while her mother worked . [Maria played with her stuffed animals while her mother worked.]
When describing unfinished situations that were interrupted before reaching their end.
For example: I was sleeping when I stopped waking up and woke me up.
To make a request in a polite manner.
For example: I would like two tickets, please.
The time markers
Tense markers, or temporal markers, can be great indicators for determining which verb tense should be used in a sentence.
In this case, the following temporal markers are usually accompanied by the imperfect past tense in Spanish:
Spanish imperfect tense
At that time… [In those times…]
Around that time… [At that time…]
When I was young… [When I was young…]
Normally… [Normally…]
Every month/day/week/year/months/summer/etc. … [Every month/day/week/year/etc. …]
Daily… [Every day/daily…]
Often… [Often…]
…While… […while…]
The formation of the imperfect past tense in Spanish
The imperfect past tense of regular verbs
The following steps describe the process used to put a regular Spanish verb into its imperfect past tense form:
First, take the verb in its infinitive form (for example: cantar, leer or escribir );
Then, the infinitive marking of the verb (-ar, -er or -ir) is removed ;
Then, the endings of the imperfect tense are added , which vary according to the ending of the regular verb (-ar, -er or -ir).
See below how to form this for each type of regular verb:
Regular verbs of the first conjugation (ending in -ar)
For any regular Spanish verb ending in -ar , the imperfect tense endings for each person will be as follows:
I -tab
You -tabs
He/she/you -tab
Us -abamos
You others -abais
They/you/them -aban
For example:
Walk
I walk up
You walk on wings
He/she/you walk up
We walked together
You walk below
Ellos/ellas/ustedes camin aban
Regular verbs of the second conjugation (ending in -er)
Likewise, for any regular Spanish verb ending in -er , the imperfect tense endings for each person will be as follows:
I -ia
You -ias
He/she/you -ia
Us -we were going
You others -yes
They/you/them -ian
For example:
Read
I was going to
You went there
He/she/you went there
We were going there
Your loyal friends
They/you are the ian
Regular verbs of the third conjugation (ending in -ir)
And finally, for any regular Spanish verb ending in -ir , the imperfect tense endings for each person will be as follows:
I -ia
You -ias
He/she/you -ia
Us -we were going
You others -yes
They/you/them -ian
For example:
Read
I wrote
You wrote
He/she/you wrote
We were writing
Your writers
Ellos/ellas/ustedes escrib ían
The imperfect past tense of irregular verbs
There are only three verbs that are quite easy to memorize that do not follow the rules described above for forming the imperfect past tense in Spanish. These are therefore called irregular.
They are:
Go
To be
See
In the imperfect tense, these verbs are conjugated as follows:
The imperfect tense of irregular verbs in Spanish
Go To be See
Yo iba I was I came
You guys You were You veins
He/she/you came He/she/you were He/she/you came
We were We were We saw
Your equals You were others Your eyes are open
They/you iban They/you were They/you/are coming
The accentuation of verbs in the imperfect past tense
To write this verb tense correctly, it is important to remember that:
Regular verbs ending in -er and -ir always have an acute accent on the letter “i” in their imperfect ending, in order to break up diphthongs.
For example:
Lose (-er): Perdía / perdías / perdía / perdidos / perdíais / perdían
Ask (-ir): Pedía / pedías / pedía / pedamos / pedíais / pedían
List of Spanish verbs in the imperfect past tense
Below are some more examples of common Spanish verbs conjugated in the imperfect:
-AIR -ER -GO
Talk Have Decide
I spoke I had I said
You spoke You had You said
He/she/you said He/she/you had He/she/you said.