The Conjugation of the Day (2010-04-07)

Question

The Conjugation of the Day ..... Imperfect Tense - Indicative Mood

Notes - The (Spanish) imperfect tense is used to:

• Refer to actions in the past that occurred repeatedly.
• Refer to actions in the past that occurred over an extended period of time.
• "Set the stage" for an event that occurred in the past.
• Actions which are not physical, that is feelings and mental actions, usually use the imperfect tense.

Tip: To describe actions that occurred repeatedly or habitually in the past in English, the phrases used to or would, past continuous, or simple past are used.

These are the rules:

• Everyday, participants will be asked to write a complete conjugation (all pronouns) for the mood and tense specified.
• You must write your conjugations in both Spanish and English.
• You can use any verb, but you must keep mood and tense
• Finally you must write a sentence in English and Spanish with the verb chosen for any pronoun.
• You can post as many answers as you like.

Everyday the most voted conjugation (or more elaborated) will receive the prize to the best answer.

Please, do not forget to be generous with your voting...Thanks

that are feelings... - h1deaway, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 1

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	..used to sleep..	..dormía..
You / Tú	..used to sleep..	..dormías..
He-She / Él-Ella	..used to sleep..	..dormíandormía..
We / Nosotros	..used to sleep..	..dormíamos..
You / Vosotros	..used to sleep..	..dormíais..
They / Ellos	..used to sleep..	..dormían..

Before I became addicted to SpanishDict.I used to sleep 8 hours each day.

Antes de volverme adicta a SpanishDict.solía dormir/dormía 8 horas cada día

jejeje...Muy bien...Una buena adicción en cualquier caso Meli... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

...shouldn't it be "dormía" for 3rd person singular, meli? - luz_72, Apr 7, 2010

Yes, good catch Luz.... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Esto de ser humanos.... - melipiru, Apr 8, 2010

good to know "solía dormir" = "dormía" - Fidalgo, Apr 8, 2010

Answer 2

Verb: To play / Jugar

Pronoun	To play	Jugar
I / Yo	used to play	jugaba
You / Tú	used to play	jugabas
He-She / Él-Ella	used to play	jugaba
We / Nosotros	used to play	jugábamos
You / Vosotros	used to play	jugábais
They / Ellos	used to play	jugaban

I used to play tennis 6 hours on weekends.

(Yo) jugaba seis horas de tenis los fines de semana.

In order to have a similar output than shown, you can copy and paste the following code (in blue color) replacing ..english.. and ..spanish.. with the proper verb conjugation. Important: DO not edit this post, just copy directly from the screen the mentioned code

<table border=3 bordercolor=blue>

<tr>

<td><b>Pronoun</b></td><td><b> English Verb</b></td>

<td><b> Spanish Verb</b></td></tr>

<tr>

<td>I / Yo</td><td> ..english.. </td>

<td> ..spanish.. </td></tr>

<tr>

<td>You / Tú</td><td> ..english.. </td>

<td> ..spanish.. </td></tr>

<tr><td>He-She / Él-Ella</td><td> ..english.. </td>

<td> ..spanish.. </td></tr>

<tr><td>We / Nosotros</td><td> ..english.. </td>

<td> ..spanish.. </td></tr>

<tr><td>You / Vosotros</td><td> ..english.. </td>

<td> ..spanish.. </td></tr>

<tr><td>They / Ellos</td><td> ..english.. </td>

<td> ..spanish.. </td></tr>

</table>

Hi Carlos, it is "weekends" - Maria-Russell, Apr 7, 2010

Oopppsss, Thanks Maria... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 3

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	..used to hunt..	..cazaba..
You / Tú	..used to hunt.. ..	..cazabas ..
He-She / Él-Ella	..used to hunt..	..cazaba..
We / Nosotros	..used to hunt..	.. cazábamos..
You / Vosotros	..used to hunt..	..cazabais..
They / Ellos	..used to hunt..	..cazaban..

Cazaba pero entonces aprendí sobre buceo.

I used to hunt but then I learned about scuba diving.

Well, there's no way I wouldn't like both of them - Fidalgo, Apr 7, 2010

I still like hunting but there just isn't time for both. - Yeser007, Apr 7, 2010

Very good... And a wonderful practice...scuba diving - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 4

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	was	estaba
You / Tú	were	estabas
He-She / Él-Ella	was	estaba
We / Nosotros	were	estábamos
You / Vosotros	were	estabais
They / Ellos	were	estaban

Estábamos en Hawai cuando el tsunami sobrevino en Indonesia en el 2004.

We were in Hawaii when the tsunami struck Indonesia in 2004.

...el 2004 or en el 2004. Anyway, very good example. - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Ahhhhh... I see said the blind man. Gracias, Carlos. - h1deaway, Apr 7, 2010

jeje - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Oops! Please pardon my lack of punctuation in that last comment. - h1deaway, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 5

Verb: comer/to eat

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	..used to eat..	..comía..
You / Tú	..used to eat..	..comías..
He-She / Él-Ella	..used to eat..	..comía..
We / Nosotros	..used to eat..	..comíamos..
You / Vosotros	..used to eat..	..comíais..
They / Ellos	..used to eat..	..comían..

Comía la carne, pero ahora es un vegetariano.

He used to eat meat, but now he is a vegetarian.

Very good....Also you could say: "Comía carne, pero ahora es vegetariano" - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Gracias, Carlos...I wondered whether I needed the articles here or not. - mar959, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 6

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	..used to begin..	..comenzaba..
You / Tú	..used to begin..	..comenzabas..
He-She / Él-Ella	..used to begin..	..comenzaba..
We / Nosotros	..used to begin..	..comenzabamos..
You / Vosotros	..used to begin..	..comenzabais..
They / Ellos	..used to begin..	..comezaban..

Cuando era una niña, comenzaba todo los día con un desayuno de cereal y tostada.

When I was a little girl, I used to begin each day with a breakfast of cereal and toast.

"...comenzaba cada día con un desayuno de cereal y tostadas" - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Gracias, Carlos - Louisette, Apr 8, 2010

Answer 7

Pronoun	to control	controlar
I / Yo	..used to control..	..controlaba..
You / Tú	..used to control..	..controlabas..
He-She / Él-Ella	..used to control..	..controlaba..
We / Nosotros	..used to control..	..controlábamos..
You / Vosotros	..used to control..	..controlabais..
They / Ellos	..used to control..	..controlaban..

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Su familia controlaba su vida antes de que se mudara a otro país.

His family used to control his life before he moved to another country.

"....antes de que se mudara a otro país." - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

...thanks Carlos:) - luz_72, Apr 8, 2010

Answer 8

Verb: Tener-To have

I/Yo................ tenía............used to have

You/Tú.............tenías..........used to have

He/She/él-ella....tenía..........used to have

We/Nosotros......teníamos.....used to have

You/Vosotros.....teníais.........used to have

They/Ellos-Ellas..tenían.........used to have

Tenía muchos pensamientos de suicido antes de recibir tratamiento psiquiátrico.

She used to have many suicidal thoughts before receiving psychiatric treatment.

(Ella) Tenía muchos pensamientos suicidas antes de recibir tratamiento psiquiátrico. - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Gracias, Carlos. L. - Lucrecia, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 9

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	.. was..	.. estaba..
You / Tú	,, were,,	,, estabas,,
He-She / Él-Ella	,, were,,	,, estaba,,
We / Nosotros	,, were,,	,, estábamos,,
You / Vosotros	,, were,,	,. estabais,,
They / Ellos	,, were,,	,, estaban,,

When I was pregnant, I walked to the store every day for exercise and chocolate.

Cuando estaba embarazada, cada día caminaba a la tiende por el ejercicio y el chocolate.

"...estaba embarazadA, ...camninaBA a la tienda POR ejercicio y chocolate". - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Gracias, Carlos. - razz, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 10

Pronoun	to make or do	hacer
I / Yo	..made..	..hacía..
You / Tú	..made..	..hacías..
He-She / Él-Ella	..made..	..hacía..
We / Nosotros	..made..	..hacíamos..
You / Vosotros	..made..	..hacíais..
They / Ellos	..made..	..hacían..

Hacía muchos años yo hacía muchas equivocaciones. I used to make a lot of mistakes many years ago.

Cometía muchos errores... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 11

Pronoun	To learn	Estudiar
I / Yo	used to learn	estudiaba
You / Tú	used to learn	estudiabas
He-She / Él-Ella	used to learn	estudiaba
We / Nosotros	used to learn	estudiábamo
You / Vosotros	used to learn	estudiabais
They / Ellos	used to learn	estudiaban

Estudiaba chino cuando era un niño, pero me olvidé de todo ahora. or maybe lo olvidé todo ahora. which one is better?

I used to learn Chinese when I was young, but I forgot it all now.

Aprendía or estudiaba chino.... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Sorry, I only think about the meaning in English and forgot which verb I used. But they both mean the same, right? - Krama, Apr 7, 2010

Both are similar but not the same. For this purpose it's ok. - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Gracias Carlos - Krama, Apr 7, 2010

how about: "...pero ya se me olvidó todo." - joscharf, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 12

Disfrutar - to enjoy

Pronoun	enjoy	disfrutar
I / Yo	used to enjoy	disfrutaba
You / Tú	used to enjoy	disfrutabas
He-She / Él-Ella	used to enjoy	disfrutaba
We / Nosotros	used to enjoy	disfrutábamos
You / Vosotros	used to enjoy	disfrutabais
They / Ellos	used to enjoy	disfrutaban

I used to enjoy every single detail of life when I was a kid.

Disfrutaba de cada detalle de la vida cuando yo era un niño.

Very good. Also you might omit "yo", but it's OK... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 13

tocar - to touch or to play

Pronoun	English	Spanish
I / Yo	used to touch	tocaba
You / Tú	used to touch	tocabas
He-She / Él-Ella	used to touch	tocaba
We / Nosotros	used to touch	tocábamos
You / Vosotros	used to touch	tocabais
They / Ellos	used to touch	tocaban

(yo) Tocaba la guitarra todos los días durante la universidad.

I used to play the guitar every day during college.

I wasn´t sure about the best translation for "during college." - 008f2974, Apr 7, 2010

Also you could say: "Tocaba la guitarra todos los días cuando estaba en la universidad". But in this case you need to change the English phrase too. - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 14

Pronoun	English Verb	Spanish Verb
I / Yo	was	estaba
You / Tú	were	estabas
He-She / Él-Ella	was	estaba
We / Nosotros	were	estábamos
They / Ellos	were	estaban

Me estaba duchando cuando me llamaste

I was in the shower when you called me

Yo estaba pensando en ti. - MattM, Apr 7, 2010

"Estaba en la ducha..." or "Estaba duchándome..." or "Me estaba duchando..." - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

Gracias Carlos. Hola Matt, ¿Cómo estás? He estado ocupada! - torrontes75, Apr 7, 2010

Answer 15

esperar - to hope, to wait

yo, I...............................................esperaba, used to wait

tú, you...........................................esperabas, used to wait

él, ella, Ud., he, she, you............... .esperaba, used to wait

nosotros, we..................................esperábamos, used to wait

vosotros, you.................................epserábais, used to wait

ellos, ellas, Uds., they, you............esperaban, used to wait

Lo esperábamos a él muchas veces hasta darnos cuenta de que nunca iba a llegar a tiempo.

We waited for him many times (used to wait for him a lot) until we realized that he never was going to be on time.

And the English sentence? - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010

That's very good... - Carlos-F, Apr 7, 2010