Spanish/Imperfect

../Verbs/

The imperfect tense communicates:
 * continuing past events (translates English was/were __ing)
 * customary, habitual events in the past
 * planned future events

Verbs are conjugated to the imperfect by taking off the last two letters of the infinitive and replacing them with an ending based on -ía or -aba.

Conjugating regular verbs in the imperfect
This is probably the easiest verb tense to conjugate.

-AR verbs take on the -aba endings. Here is an example:

Bailar (to dance)

 bailaba: I danced  bailabas: you danced  bailaba: he, she, it, you (formal) danced  bailábamos: we danced  bailabais: you danced  bailaban: they, you (plural, formal) danced

-IR and -ER verbs take on -ía endings. Examples:

Venir (to come)

 venía:  I came  venías:  you came  venía:  he, she, it, you came  veníamos:  we came  veníais:  you came  venían:  they, you (formal) came

Comer (to eat)

comía: I ate comías: you ate comía: he, she, it, you ate comíamos: we ate comíais: you ate comían: they, you (formal) ate

Irregular verbs
There are only three.

Ser (to be)

era: I was eras: you were era: he, she, it was, you were éramos: we were erais: you were eran: they were

Notice the accent in the "nosotros" form of "ser" and "ir."

Ir (to go)

iba: I used to go ibas: you used to go iba: he, she, it, you used to go íbamos: we used to go ibais: you used to go iban: they used to go

Ver (to see)

veía: I used to see veías: you used to see veía: he, she, it, you used to see veíamos: we used to see veíais: you used to see veían: they used to see

That's it! Those are all the irregulars.