Exclusive lesson series for email subscribers - The Past Tenses

Understanding the Imperfect Tense

In the previous lesson we took a look at the Spanish preterite past tense. In this lesson we’ll learn about the imperfect past, and contrast the two.

Remember how in English we have three main ways of talking about the past. 

The preterite tense generally deals with the first example. We’ll now look at the others.

What is the imperfect tense?

The imperfect tense is used to talk about generalized and habitual actions in the past, and background actions that set the scene or describe what was happened when something else occurred.

It was sunny at the weekend.
We were living in Spain at the time.
I used to walk to school. 

Forming the imperfect

Here are the conjugation endings for the imperfect tense. Again, don’t worry if you don’t completely memorize all these right now. We will make sure you do in the next lesson.

For -ar verbs, the imperfect endings are: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban.

For -er and -ir verbs, the imperfect endings are: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. 

Let’s look at some specific examples.  

Routines and habitual actions

Since the imperfect is used with actions without a definite end or start point, it often describes routines or habitual actions in the past. 

Note that in English we sometimes use the word would to describe a past habitual action e.g. when we were kids we would play football until dark.

Background actions

These are actions in the past that describe what was happening, or what the situation was when something else took place.

Note that this usually translates to the English progressive past (the “was -ing” form). 

Contrasting the preterite and imperfect

Now that you know the difference between the two past tenses we’ll look at comparing them directly.

Below are three classic contrasts showing how each tense is used. Each sentence shows an example of the preterite and imperfect side by side to highlight the difference.

Interrupted background actions

As we have seen the imperfect is used to set the scene for another action. This main action is usually expressed using the preterite past.

Routines vs. one time events

Recall that the preterit is used for specific one time events, and the imperfect is used for routines or habitual actions. 

Multiple completed actions vs. habitual actions

Remember that because the repeated actions are completed each time, the preterit must be used.  With habitual actions or routines, it's not clear the start of end point of the action. 

Activity - Test your understanding

Now we've looked at both tenses in detail it's time to put your understanding to the test!

In each sentence there are two verbs, choose whether you would use the imperfect or the preterite for each. Answers are at the bottom of the lesson.

1. 

We didn't understand anything when the group was singing.
No ______(entender - to understand) nada cuando el grupo ______ (cantar - to sing).

2.
The girls were playing football, but then suddenly it started to rain.
Las muchachas ______ (jugar - to play) fútbol pero de repente ______ (empezar - to begin) a llover.

3.
Juan didn't like to ride horses because once he fell off one. 
Antes, Juan no le ______ (gustar - to like) montar al caballo porque una vez se ______ (caerse - to fall down). 

4.
When you travelled around Central America, did you go to the Tikal ruins?
¿Cuando ______ (viajar - to travel) por Centroamérica, ______ (ir - to go) a las ruinas de Tikal?

5.
While I was on vacation, my mum had an accident.
Mientras ______ (estar - to be) de vacaciones, mi mamá ______ (tener - to have) un accidente. 

6.
You didn't used to speak Spanish, but a year ago you learned in Argentina.
Antes usted ______ (hablar - to speak) español pero desde hace un año ______ (aprender - to learn) en Argentina.

Wrapping up

Today you have seen that you use the imperfect tense when talking about habiutal actions in the past, or background actions that set the scene for something else.  You will have seen the difference in conjugation endings between the two tenses. In the next lesson we'll look at how you can memorize these so they become second nature.

Remember to check your answers to the quiz below.

1. entendimos (preterite), cantaba (imperfect)
2. jugaban (imperfect), empezó (preterite)
3. gustaba (imperfect), cayó (preterite)
4. viajabas (imperfect), fuiste* (preterite)
5. estaba (imperfect), tuvo* (preterite)
6. hablaba (imperfect), aprendió (preterite)

*irregular forms