The Imperfect Tense
We use the
imperfect in Spanish the same way we do in English. It is used when we want to clarify that an
action was taking place over a length of time in the past. Whereas the preterit tense focuses on
definite, realized actions, the imperfect focuses more on an era, epoch, or
past habitual actions.
There are
only a couple of irregular imperfect verbs, which we’ll cover in the next
chapter. But for now, let’s begin our
studies of the imperfect tense by focusing on –ar verbs, whose suffixes are conjugated like this:
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
-aba
|
-ábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
-abas
|
-abais
|
|
3rd Person
|
-aba
|
-aban
|
Note that
the 1st and 3rd persons singular are the same, so the
addition of the subject pronoun is in order to avoid confusion and sentence
ambiguity. Also, an accent mark makes an
appearance on the nosotros
conjugation.
Study and
memorize the following common –ar
verbs in the imperfect tense:
hablar (to
speak)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
hablaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras hablábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
hablabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras hablabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. hablaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. hablaban
|
pagar (to
pay for, to pay)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
pagaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras pagábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
pagabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras pagabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. pagaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. pagaban
|
desayunar (to
eat breakfast)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
desayunaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras desayunábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
desayunabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras desayunabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. desayunaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. desayunaban
|
almorzar (to
eat lunch)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
almorzaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras almorzábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
almorzabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras almorzabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. almorzaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. almorzaban
|
cenar (to
eat dinner)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
cenaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras cenábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
cenabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras cenabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. cenaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. cenaban
|
contar (to
count, to tell (a story))
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
contaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras contábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
contabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras contabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. contaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. contaban
|
estudiar (to
study)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
estudiaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras estudiábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
estudiabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras estudiabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. estudiaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. estudiaban
|
manejar (to
drive)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
manejaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras manejábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
manejabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras manejabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. manejaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. manejaban
|
llamar (to
call)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
llamaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras llamábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
llamabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras llamabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. llamaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. llamaban
|
ganar (to
earn, to win)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
ganaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras ganábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
ganabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras ganabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. ganaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. ganaban
|
mirar (to
watch, to look at)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
miraba
|
nosotros,
nosotras mirábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
mirabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras mirabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. miraba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. miraban
|
estar (to
be)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
estaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras estábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
estabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras estabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. estaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. estaban
|
dar (to give)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
daba
|
nosotros,
nosotras dábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
dabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras dabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. daba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. daban
|
mandar (to
send)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
mandaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras mandábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
mandabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras mandabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. mandaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. mandaban
|
despertar (to
awaken)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
despertaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras despertábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
despertabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras despertabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. despertaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. despertaban
|
matar (to
kill)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
mataba
|
nosotros,
nosotras matábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
matabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras matabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. mataba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. mataban
|
nadar (to
swim)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
nadaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras nadábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
nadabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras nadabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. nadaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. nadaban
|
lavar (to
wash)
|
|
Singular
|
Plural
|
|
1st Person
|
yo
lavaba
|
nosotros,
nosotras lavábamos
|
|
2nd Person
|
tú
lavabas
|
vosotros,
vosotras lavabais
|
|
3rd Person
|
él,
ella, Ud. lavaba
|
ellos,
ellas, Uds. lavaban
|
Comments
Post a Comment