Talking about the past
What used to happen
Imperfect
Describe past habits, background, or an action viewed as ongoing.
Endings refresher
Imperfect
Remove -ar, -er or -ir. The imperfect endings are the same for -er and -ir verbs.
| Person | -ar ending | -er / -ir ending |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -aba | -ía |
| tú | -abas | -ías |
| él / ella / usted | -aba | -ía |
| nosotros / nosotras | -ábamos | -íamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | -abais | -íais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -aban | -ían |
hacer → hac- + -ía → yo hacía
- Hacer is regular in the imperfect, even though it has irregular forms in other tenses: hago, hice, haré.
- Yo and él / ella / usted share the same imperfect ending. Keep the accent in every -ía form and in nosotros -ábamos.
- These charts use tú. Vosotros / vosotras is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final row. Vos forms vary by region.
Imperfect irregulars
Ser, ir and ver are the standard imperfect exceptions. Hacer follows the regular -er pattern.
| Person | Ser | Ir | Ver |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | era | iba | veía |
| tú | eras | ibas | veías |
| él / ella / usted | era | iba | veía |
| nosotros / nosotras | éramos | íbamos | veíamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | erais | ibais | veíais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | eran | iban | veían |
yo era; yo iba; yo veía
- Being irregular in another tense does not make a verb irregular here: tener → tenía; hacer → hacía.
- These charts use tú. Vosotros / vosotras is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final row. Vos forms vary by region.
The pattern
- Forms below follow: yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros, ellos/ustedes. Vosotros is mainly used in Spain; ustedes uses the final form.
- Drop -ar: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban.
- Drop -er/-ir: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
- Main irregulars: era, iba, veía.
De niño, leía mucho.
As a child, I used to read a lot.
Why it works: Leía presents reading as a habit during childhood, without framing its beginning or end.
Notice the difference
Leí ese cuento tres veces.
I read that story three times.
Why it works: Repetition can also use the preterite: these three readings are presented as a completed series. Repetition alone does not choose the tense.
One thing to watch for
Choose the viewpoint: a completed event and its background can use different past tenses.