Talk About Now and Then in Spanish

Quick Answer

¡Hola!Learn how to talk about now and then in Spanish in this article and the lessons above! Specifically, learn how to do the following in Spanish:

• discuss the past

• talk about society’s advances

• use the imperfect to describe situations in the past

Vocabulary

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

Adjectives

Spanish	English
avanzado	advanced
cálido	warm
comercial	commercial
contrario	opposite
disponible	available
experto	expert
fresco	cool
miedoso	fearful
obediente	obedient
ondulado	wavy
orgánico	organic
perezoso	lazy
profundo	deep
renovable	renewable
rizado	curly
sedentario	sedentary
turístico	touristy

examples
Hace veinte años, Internet no era muy avanzado. Twenty years ago, the Internet was not very advanced.
Ahora el clima de la región es más cálido. The climate in the region is now warmer.
Ahora mi ciudad es más comercial. My city is now more commercial.

Nouns

Spanish	English
la energía	energy
la gallina	hen
la gasolina	gasoline
el vecino	neighbor
el videojuego	video games

examples
Antes, casi no se hablaba de las energías renovables. Before, renewable energy was hardly talked about.
De pequeña, yo creía que la leche venía de las gallinas. When I was little, I thought that milk came from hens.
Antes, se consumía menos gasolina. In the past, people used less gasoline.

Verbs

In this skill, you learn the following verbs!

Consumir

Consumir(to use or to consume) is an -ir verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	consumía	I used, I consumed
tú	consumías	you used, you consumed	informal singular you
vos	consumías	you used, you consumed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	consumía	he, she used; he, she consumed
usted	consumía	you used, you consumed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	consumíamos	we used, we consumed
vosotros, vosotras	consumíais	you used, you consumed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	consumían	they used, they consumed
ustedes	consumían	you used, you consumed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Existir

Existir(to exist) is an -ir verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	existía	I existed
tú	existías	you existed	informal singular you
vos	existías	you existed	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	existía	he, she existed
usted	existía	you existed	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	existíamos	we existed
vosotros, vosotras	existíais	you existed	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	existían	they existed
ustedes	existían	you existed	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Inventar

Inventar(to invent) is an -ar verb that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	inventaba	I invented
tú	inventabas	you invented	informal singular you
vos	inventabas	you invented	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	inventaba	he, she invented
usted	inventaba	you invented	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	inventábamos	we invented
vosotros, vosotras	inventabais	you invented	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	inventaban	they invented
ustedes	inventaban	you invented	plural you (in Latin America), formal plural you (in Spain)

Verb Phrase

In this skill, you learn the following verb phrase!

Saltar A La Cuerda

Saltar a la cuerda(to jump rope) is an -ar verb phrase that is regular in the imperfect.

Pronoun(s)	Conjugation	Translation	Notes
yo	saltaba a la cuerda	I jumped rope
tú	saltabas a la cuerda	you jumped rope	informal singular you
vos	saltabas a la cuerda	you jumped rope	informal singular you (in parts of Latin America)
él, ella	saltaba a la cuerda	he, she jumped rope
usted	saltaba a la cuerda	you jumped rope	formal singular you
nosotros, nosotras	saltábamos a la cuerda	we jumped rope
vosotros, vosotras	saltabais a la cuerda	you jumped rope	informal plural you (in Spain)
ellos, ellas	saltaban a la cuerda	they jumped rope
ustedes	saltaban a la cuerda	you jumped rope	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, feelings, and beliefs held in the past, 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:

antes

cuando era niño

cuando era pequeña

cuando eras niño

de niña

de niñas

de pequeña

de pequeño

hace diez años

hace treinta años

hace veinte años

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