Remember the Past in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to remember the past in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• describe people in the past

• use the imperfect to talk about habits in the past

• talk about one’s family

Vocabulary

Let's start off with the vocab words in these lessons!

Adjective

Spanish	English
mojado	wet
paciente	patient
talentoso	talented
tradicional	traditional

examples
La mesa siempre estaba mojada. The table was always wet.
Ella era un persona muy paciente. She was a very patient person.
Ambos eran igualmente talentosos. They were both equally talented.

Adverbs

Spanish	English
igualmente	equally
lentamente	slowly
normalmente	usually

examples
Normalmente, les visitaban una vez al mes. Usually, they visited them once a month.
Ambos eran igualmente talentosos. They were both equally talented.
Mi abuela cocinaba lentamente. My grandmother cooked slowly.

Nouns

Spanish	English
los abuelos	grandparents
el acuario	fish tank
la atracción	ride
la madera	wood
la princesa	princess
el príncipe	prince
la razón	reason
la serie	TV show
la telenovela	soap opera

examples
Los abuelos nos consentían mucho. Our grandparents spoiled us a lot.
El acuario estaba encima de una mesa de madera. The fish tank was on top of a wooden table.
¡Nos montábamos en todas las atracciones! We rode on all the rides!

Noun Phrases

Spanish	English
el juego de mesa	board game
el parque de atracciones	amusement park
el parque zoológico	zoo
los peces de colores	goldfish

examples
Normalmente, jugábamos juegos de mesa. Usually, we played board games.
Algunos fines de semana, íbamos al parque de atracciones. Some weekends, we went to the amusement park.
Cerca de su casa, había un parque zoológico. Near their house, there was a zoo.

Prepositional Phrases

Spanish	English
con frecuencia	frequently
sin avisar	unannounced

examples
Con frecuencia, yo ganaba. Frequently, I won.
A veces, llegaban sin avisar. Sometimes, they came over unannounced.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Adorar

Adorar(to adore) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	adoraba	I adored
tú	adorabas	you adored	informal singular you
vos	adorabas	you adored	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	adoraba	he, she adored
usted	adoraba	you adored	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	adorábamos	we adored
vosotros, vosotras	adorabais	you adored	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	adoraban	they adored
ustedes	adoraban	you adored	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Cenar

Cenar(to have dinner) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	cenaba	I had dinner
tú	cenabas	you had dinner	informal singular you
vos	cenabas	you had dinner	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	cenaba	he, she had dinner
usted	cenaba	you had dinner	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	cenábamos	we had dinner
vosotros, vosotras	cenabais	you had dinner	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	cenaban	they had dinner
ustedes	cenaban	you had dinner	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Cocinar

Cocinar(to cook) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	cocinaba	I cooked
tú	cocinabas	you cooked	informal singular you
vos	cocinabas	you cooked	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	cocinaba	he, she cooked
usted	cocinaba	you cooked	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	cocinábamos	we cooked
vosotros, vosotras	cocinabais	you cooked	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	cocinaban	they cooked
ustedes	cocinaban	you cooked	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Consentir

Consentir(to spoil) is an -ir verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	consentía	I spoiled
tú	consentías	you spoiled	informal singular you
vos	consentías	you spoiled	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	consentía	he, she spoiled
usted	consentía	you spoiled	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	consentíamos	we spoiled
vosotros, vosotras	consentíais	you spoiled	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	consentían	they spoiled
ustedes	consentían	you spoiled	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Considerarse

Considerarse(to consider oneself) is an -ar reflexive verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me consideraba	I considered myself
tú	te considerabas	you considered yourself	informal singular you
vos	te considerabas	you considered yourself	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se consideraba	he, she considered himself, herself
usted	se consideraba	you considered yourself	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos considerábamos	we considered ourselves
vosotros, vosotras	os considerabais	you considered yourselves	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se consideraban	they considered themselves
ustedes	se consideraban	you considered yourselves	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Fascinar

Fascinar(to be fascinated by) is a verb like gustar in the imperfect.

With verbs like gustar, the subject of the sentence is the thing being liked, while the thing doing the liking is expressed via an indirect object.

This table refers to being fascinated by a singular thing. If the thing that fascinated you is plural, use fascinaban.

Conjugation	Translation	Notes
me fascinaba	I was fascinated by
te fascinaba	you were fascinated by	informal singular you
te fascinaba	you were fascinated by	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
le fascinaba	he, she was fascinated by
le fascinaba	you were fascinated by	formal singular you
nos fascinaba	we were fascinated by
os fascinaba	you were fascinated by	informal plural you (in Spain)
les fascinaba	they were fascinated by
les fascinaba	you were fascinated by	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Ganar

Ganar(to win) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	ganaba	I won
tú	ganabas	you won	informal singular you
vos	ganabas	you won	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	ganaba	he, she won
usted	ganaba	you won	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	ganábamos	we won
vosotros, vosotras	ganabais	you won	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	ganaban	they won
ustedes	ganaban	you won	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Llamar

Llamar(to call) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	llamaba	I called
tú	llamabas	you called	informal singular you
vos	llamabas	you called	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	llamaba	he, she called
usted	llamaba	you called	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	llamábamos	we called
vosotros, vosotras	llamabais	you called	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	llamaban	they called
ustedes	llamaban	you called	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Llegar

Llegar(to arrive) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	llegaba	I arrived
tú	llegabas	you arrived	informal singular you
vos	llegabas	you arrived	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	llegaba	he, she arrived
usted	llegaba	you arrived	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	llegábamos	we arrived
vosotros, vosotras	llegabais	you arrived	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	llegaban	they arrived
ustedes	llegaban	you arrived	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Montarse

Montarse(to ride) is an -ar pronominal verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	me montaba	I rode
tú	te montabas	you rode	informal singular you
vos	te montabas	you rode	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	se montaba	he, she rode
usted	se montaba	you rode	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	nos montábamos	we rode
vosotros, vosotras	os montabais	you rode	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	se montaban	they rode
ustedes	se montaban	you rode	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Odiar

Odiar(to hate) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	odiaba	I hated
tú	odiabas	you hated	informal singular you
vos	odiabas	you hated	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	odiaba	he, she hated
usted	odiaba	you hated	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	odiábamos	we hated
vosotros, vosotras	odiabais	you hated	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	odiaban	they hated
ustedes	odiaban	you hated	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Trabajar

Trabajar(to work) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	trabajaba	I worked
tú	trabajabas	you worked	informal singular you
vos	trabajabas	you worked	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	trabajaba	he, she worked
usted	trabajaba	you worked	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	trabajábamos	we worked
vosotros, vosotras	trabajabais	you worked	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	trabajaban	they worked
ustedes	trabajaban	you worked	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Venir

Venir(to come [over]) is an -ir verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	venía	I came over
tú	venías	you came over	informal singular you
vos	venías	you came over	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	venía	he, she came over
usted	venía	you came over	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	veníamos	we came over
vosotros, vosotras	veníais	you came over	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	venían	they came over
ustedes	venían	you came over	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Ver

Ver(to see) is an irregular verb in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	veía	I saw
tú	veías	you saw	informal singular you
vos	veías	you saw	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	veía	he, she saw
usted	veía	you saw	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	veíamos	we saw
vosotros, vosotras	veíais	you saw	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	veían	they saw
ustedes	veían	you saw	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Imperfect Verbs: Introduction

The imperfect tense, or pretérito imperfecto, is one of the two tenses used to talk about the past in Spanish. We use it to talk about descriptions in the past, like past habits, repeated actions and feelings, or to set the scene when talking about an action that was interrupted.

In these lessons, you learned some common expressions that indicate that the imperfect tense should be used. These expressions include:

algunos fines de semana

a menudo

a veces

cada semana

casi siempre

con frecuencia

de pequeña

normalmente

siempre

todos los + day of the week

una vez al mes

Imperfect Verbs: Regular Verbs

Conjugating verbs in the imperfect tense is simple! Just take the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or -ir) off the verb and add one of the following endings. Don’t forget the tildes(accents)!

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

Imperfect Tense: Irregular Verbs

Like any other tense in Spanish, the imperfect tense is, well, imperfect! However, it’s far more user-friendly than other Spanish tenses; there are just three irregular verbs! Here’s how you conjugate all three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense:

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