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The Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly.

Yo caminaba cada día. - I used to walk every day.

The imperfect tense is also used to refer to actions in the past that occurred over an extended period of time.

Yo comía frecuentemente pollo. - I used to eat chicken frequently.

The imperfect tense is also used to “set the stage” for an event that occurred in the past.

Veníamos para casa cuando vimos a Juan. - We were coming home when we saw Juan.

Actions which are not physical, that is feelings and mental actions, usually use the imperfect tense.

Juan estaba enfermo. - Juan was feeling sick.

The imperfect is frequently associated with phrases that describe the frequency of past actions.

a menudo - often

a veces - sometimes

cada día - every day

cada año - every year

con frecuencia - frequently

de vez en cuando - from time to time

en aquella época - at that time

frecuentemente - frequently

generalmente - usually

muchas veces - many times

mucho - a lot

nunca - never

por un rato - for awhile

siempre - always

tantas veces - so many times

todas las semanas - every week

todos los días - every day

todo el tiempo - all the time

varias veces - several times

Regular forms of the imperfect are formed by adding the following endings to the stem of the verb:

-ar verbs

-er verbs, -ir verbs

aba

ía

abas

ías

aba

ía

ábamos

íamos

abais

íais

aban

ían

Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect

Ser

Ir

Ver

era

iba

veía

eras

ibas

veías

era

iba

veía

éramos

íbamos

veíamos

erais

ibais

veíais

eran

iban

veían

The Subjunctive Tense