Imperfect Tense

Quick Answer

We use the pretérito imperfecto(imperfect tense) in Spanish to provide descriptions about something in the past, including past habits and feelings, as well as to set the scene when talking about an action that was interrupted by another action.

Conjugating Verbs in the Imperfect Tense

Thankfully, the imperfect is a user-friendly tense! Why do we say that? You’ll only need to memorize three irregular verbs! Let’s take a look at how we conjugate verbs in the imperfect:

Regular Verbs in the Imperfect Tense

To conjugate a regular verb in the imperfect tense, remove the infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir) from the verb and add one of the following endings:

Subject	-ar Verbs	-er and -ir Verbs
yo	-aba	-ía
tú	-abas	-ías
vos	-abas	-ías
él, ella, usted	-aba	-ía
nosotros	-ábamos	-íamos
vosotros	-abais	-íais
ellos, ellas, ustedes	-aban	-ían

Read up on your -ar, -er, and -ir verbs!

Irregular Verbs in the Imperfect Tense

As we said earlier, the imperfect tense is quite user-friendly. There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect: ir(to go), ser(to be), and ver(to see). Here’s how these three verbs are conjugated in the imperfect:

Subject	Ir (to go)	Ser (to be)	Ver (to see)
yo	iba	era	veía
tú	ibas	eras	veías
vos	ibas	eras	veías
él, ella, usted	iba	era	veía
nosotros	íbamos	éramos	veíamos
vosotros	ibais	erais	veíais
ellos, ellas, ustedes	iban	eran	veían

Do you struggle with irregular verbs? (We all do!) Check out this article.

The pretérito imperfecto is one of the tenses that we use to talk about the past in Spanish. We use the imperfect, in a nutshell, to describe the past. What does that mean?

Using the Imperfect Tense to Describe the Past

We use the imperfect:

To talk about habits in the past

examples
Manuel iba a la piscina todos los jueves a entrenar. Manuel went to the pool every Thursday to practice.
Tomás y Olivia tocaban la trompeta en la banda municipal todos los veranos. Tomás and Olivia played the trumpet in the town band every summer.

To talk about ages, dates, or times in the past

examples
Jana tenía 16 años cuando se marchó de casa para ir a un internado. Jana was 16 years old when she left home to go to boarding school.
Eran las cinco de la tarde cuando se casaron. It was five in the afternoon when they got married.

To describe physical characteristics and feelings in the past

examples
Hacía tanto frío en Tierra del Fuego que decidieron volver antes de lo previsto. It was so cold in Tierra del Fuego that they decided to return ahead of schedule.
Esperanza era bajita y tenía pecas cuando era joven. Esperanza was short and had freckles when she was young.
Teníamos mucho miedo cuando oíamos aullar a los lobos en el monte. We were really scared when we heard the wolves howling in the mountains.

To talk about an action that was interrupted by another action

In this case, the scene is set by the imperfect, and the interrupting action is in the preterite.

examples
Nadábamos en el río cuando vimos saltar un salmón gigante. We were swimming in the river when we saw a huge salmon jump.
Estudiabas cuando te llamé, ¿verdad? You were studying when I called you, weren’t you?

Imperfect Tense Signal Words

Remember: we use the imperfect tense to describe habits, feelings, and physical descriptions in the past as well as to set the scene when talking about an action that was interrupted.

Certain words help us know that we should use the imperfect tense to talk about something in the past. These words include adverbs of time and frequency like siempre(always), a menudo(often), todos los días(every day), and de vez en cuando(once in a while).

Check out our complete list of phrases that signal the imperfect tense.

Preterite vs. Imperfect Tenses

You will often find the preterite and the imperfect combined in the same sentence, especially to talk about an action that was interrupted by another event in the past.

the imperfect sets the scene in the past
the preterite is used to talk about the interrupting action

What does this mean? Look at how the imperfect is used in these examples.

examples
Cuando yo escribía la primera frase de mi redacción, alguien tocó el timbre . Someone rang the doorbell when I was writing the first sentence of my essay.
La banda tocaba cuando cayó un relámpago. The band was playing when lightning struck.