THE IMPERFECT TENSE

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THE IMPERFECT TENSE
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• 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.

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It is formed by taking the stem of the infinitive
and adding the endings as follows
Ar verbs e.g. hablar
Yo hablaba
Nosotros hablábamos
Tú hablabas
Vosotros hablabais
Él/ella/usted hablaba
Ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaban
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Er verbs
E.g. comer
Yo comía
Nosotros comíamos
Tú comías
Vosotros comíais
Ellos/ellas/ustedes comían
Él/ella/usted comía
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IR verbs
E.g. vivir
Nosotros vivíamos
Yo vivía
Vosotros vivíais
Tú vivías
Él/ella/usted vivía
Ellos/ellas/ustedes vivían
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Guess the good news?
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There are only two irregular verbs in the
imperfect!
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IR IBA IBAS IBA ÍBAMOS IBAIS IBAN
SER ERA ERAS ERA ÉRAMOS ERAIS ERAN
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The imperfect
The preterite
The imperfect sets the scene in the past and
the preterite crashesinto it, with a single
action.
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• 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.
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• 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
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• 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.