Imperfect Tense

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Imperfect Tense

• Talking about things that used to happening or
  were happening in the past

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Two Ways to Talk About the Past

• Preterit
• Completed past actions
• Imperfect
• Actions that were ongoing

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(Review)Verb Endings in the Preterit
REMEMBER The preterit is used to talk about
completed past actions. It is not used to talk
about things that used to happen or were ongoing
at a certain point in the past.
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Uses of the Imperfect

• To talk about things that used to happen.
• Example
• We used to visit our grandparents every spring.
• To talk about things that were happening at a
  certain point in the past.
• Example
• I was talking on the phone when

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Verb Endings in the Imperfect
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visitaban

• Ellos siempre _____________ a sus abuelos.
  (visitar)
• Nosotros ____________ en la cafetería. (comer)
• Tú ____________ mucho con él. (hablar)
• Usted ____________ muy a menudo. (viajar)
• Nosotros ___________ mucho. (aprender)

comíamos
hablabas
viajaba
aprendíamos
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Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect

• Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect
  tense