-ar verbs – abas –abais – aba – aban

2. IMPERFECTO DE INDICATIVO
(Imperfect indicative)
-ar verbs
– aba – ábamos
– abas –abais
– aba – aban
-er verbs
– ía – íamos
– ías
– íais
– ía
– ían
-ir verbs
– ía – íamos
– ías
– íais
– ía
– ían
Take off the –ar, -er, -ir endings and add the above endings.
There are three irregular verbs in this tense. They are:
1. ir/to go
iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
2. ser/ to be
era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
3. ver/to see
veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían
This is one of the past tenses. The imperfect expresses an action or a state of being that was
continuous in the past and its completion is not indicated. This tense in used to express:
A. An action that was going on in the past at the same time as another action.
1. Miguel escribía y la maestra hablaba. Mike was writing and the teacher was
talking.
B. An action that was going on in the past when another action occurred.
1. Yo caminaba cuando el carro me
I was walking when the car hit me.
chocó.
C. An action that a person did habitually in the past.
1. Cuando éramos jóvenes, andábamos
When we were young, we rode
en bicicletas todos los días.
(used to ride) bikes every day.
2. Cuando vivíamos en Hawai, íbamos
When we lived in Hawaii, we would go
a la playa todos los días.
(went, used to go) to the beach every day.
* Note: In this example, would go looks like we should use the conditional, but since it is
an habitual action, the imperfect is used.
D. A description of mental, emotional, or physical condition in the past.
1. Quería ir a la montaña.
I wanted to go to the mountain.
*Mental condition. Common verbs used in this way are: creer, desear, pensar,
poder, preferir, querer, saber, and sentir.
2. Estaba nervioso para el examen.
I was nervous for the test.
*Emotional condition
3. Mi abuela era bonita cuando era
My grandma was beautiful when she
pequeña.
was young.
*Physical condition
E. The time of day in the past.
1. ¿Qué hora era?
2. Eran las tres.
What time was it?
It was three o’clock.