When to use it
- Habitual actions in the past
- Ongoing background actions
- Past descriptions and conditions
- Age, time, and weather in the past
Pretérito imperfecto
Spanish Imperfect Tense
Use the Spanish imperfect for ongoing past situations, descriptions, background information, and habitual actions.
How to form it
Remove the infinitive ending. Add -aba endings to regular -ar verbs and -ía endings to regular -er and -ir verbs.
Spanish Imperfect Tense examples
Hablaba con ella cada semana.
I used to speak with her every week.
Comíamos cuando llamaste.
We were eating when you called.
Vivían cerca del mar.
They used to live near the sea.
Regular spanish imperfect tense conjugations
Compare a model -ar, -er, and -ir verb. The bold portion is the complete conjugated form.