- Buenos días, Jake!
- Mornin' Pablo... Remind me again, why are our lessons so early?
- Because it's nice going to school early! It's the best time of day to learn Spanish Besides, the early bird gets the worm!
- Sure... But, really, why?
- Because this was the only slot left on my schedule.
- Oh, that's right. Hey, how do you say "worm" in Spanish?
- Gusano! But today's lesson is not about animals.
- No, because that would be fun, wouldn't it?
- Jake, don't be a downer. Today's lesson is about the Spanish Imperfect tense!
- Wow, how fun...
- It is!
- It's called the Imperfect tense. The name itself is a bad omen.
- It's only called "Imperfect" in English.
- How's it called in Spanish?
...
- It's Imperfecto, isn't it?
- Moving on! Let's get started!
The Imperfect tense (or Pretérito Imperfecto, in Spanish) is an infinitive preterite tense that's used to describe ongoing, repeated, or unfinished past actions or feelings. It's also used to describe the characteristics of something in the past, as long as we don't know if or when those characteristics ceased to be. Even though its concept is more abstract than the Pretérito Perfecto, the Imperfecto is very commonly used in Spanish, so make sure to practice!
- The full name of the Imperfect tense in Spanish is actually Pretérito Imperfecto. It is, therefore, a past tense, just like the Pretérito Perfecto Simple (Perfect Simple), the Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto (Perfect Compound), and the Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto (Pluperfect).
- Does the Imperfect have a compound tense as well?
- Yes and no. Its compound counterpart is actually the Pluperfect, which we learn as a completely different tense. So, for this lesson, we can just say that it doesn't have a compound tense.
- Okay, that makes it simpler.
- And what makes it even simpler is the fact that I'm sure you've already heard this tense. For example: "De niño, yo era muy travieso."
- Oh yeah, I've heard "era" here and there!
- This is a very easy tense to learn. The thing most students struggle with is when to use it.
- Well, let's struggle, then!
- There are basically three uses of the Imperfect. The first instance in which the Imperfect is used is to describe past habitual or unfinished actions.
- "Past habitual actions"?
- Yes. Things you used to do in the past, things that were part of your routine, that you repeated frequently. Past repeated actions.
- Oh, I see. Something like: "As a kid, I used to go to the library every day."
- Exactly! That sentence would translate as: "De niño, yo iba a la biblioteca todos los días."
- So "iba" is the Imperfect conjugation there?
- Por supuesto, Jake! In fact, "used to" is a great English counterpart to the Imperfect tense in Spanish. Should we try a few more example sentences?
- "When I was a college student, I used to go out every Saturday."
- Another perfect example, Jake! "Cuando yo era estudiante universitario, salía todos los sábados." Next one!
- Hmm... "I used to work at the movie theatre every day of the week."
- "Yo trabajaba en el cine todos los días de la semana."
- But for this past action we could also say "Yo trabajé en el cine", couldn't we?
- We could, but the meaning would be different. If we used the Perfect tense, it would translate as: "I worked at the movie theatre."
- Oh, I see! So "used to" is a great trick to spot the Imperfect.
- Absolutely!
- We also use the Imperfecto with "mental actions".
- Oh yeah, I'm sure Spanish people always use the Imperfect tense while performing telekinesis...
- Not what I meant! By mental actions I meant feelings and emotions. For example: "Ayer, yo estaba aburrido."
- Yesterday you were bored... But, once again, you could have said: "Ayer, yo estuve aburrido."
- I could. But those are two different phrases. We use the Imperfecto when we want to focus on an ongoing action, feeling or emotion. Saying estuve instead of estaba would put the focus on the fact that I'm not bored anymore. By saying estuve, the focus of the sentence is that I was bored throughout the day and I might even be bored today, we're not sure.
- So to use the Imperfect we just need to be... unsure?
- In a way. It's either a repeated action or something unfinished. Or that we're not sure whether or not it is finished. A good telltale sign that the Imperfect is being used is temporal markers. In preterite phrases where you see expressions like antes, normalmente, todos los días, el año pasado, de niño, etc, the Imperfect is usually used.
- That's a nice little trick!
- The third instance in which we use the Imperfect tense in Spanish is to describe how something or someone used to be. Basically, to describe characteristics, but in a preterite tense. Remember that first sentence I used as an example?
- "De niño, yo era muy travieso."
- Precisely! That would translate as: "As a child, I used to be very mischievous."
- Pardon my confusion, But, couldn't we say "De niño, yo fui muy travieso"?
- We could. But, again, that would change the meaning of the description and of the sentence to: "As a child, I was very mischievous."
- Not sure I see the difference there. Those seem like synonym sentences.
- Ah, that's the nuance of the Imperfecto! You see, in the first sentence, we focus on the fact that I was continuously or routinely mischievous; whereas, in the latter one, it seems like I've been mischievous only one time, exactly.
- Oh yeah, that actually makes sense!
- It's a bit tricky to spot the nuance at first, but with practice it becomes quite evident.
- Well, I've studied the Subjunctive in Spanish, so this is only a minor inconvenience compared to that.
- That's the spirit!
- Now it's time for my conjugation cheat sheet. Would you pick three random regular verbs that I could use as examples, Jake? One ending with -ar, another with -er, and another with -ir, please.
- In Spanish?
- No, in Romanian! What do you think?!
- Sorry! Okay...Regular verbs in Spanish... Hablar (to speak), comer (to eat), dormir (to sleep).
- Great examples! I like doing all of those things! Let's put them in the following table:
| HABLAR | COMER | DORMIR | |
| yo | hablaba | comía | dormía |
| tú | hablabas | comías | dormías |
| él, ella, usted | hablaba | comía | dormía |
| nosotros/as | hablábamos | comíamos | dormíamos |
| vosotros/as | hablabeis | comíais | dormíais |
| ellos/as, ustedes | hablablan | comían | dormían |
- Wow, that's actually not too difficult!
- Right? As you can see, the -er verbs and the -ir verbs have the exact same conjugation. All conjugations have an accent mark so it's easy to remember. For the -ar verbs, only the "we" conjugation has a pronoun. And that's how you conjugate most regular Imperfect verbs.
- Wow, I'm actually impressed by how easy it is to conjugate verbs in the Imperfect tense! Wait...there are going to be a bunch of irregular verbs, aren't there?
- Actually, the Imperfect is easy even regarding irregular verbs! There are only three irregular verbs: ser (to be), ir (to go), and ver (to see).
- Do you happen to have another neat cheat sheet for those?
- I do! How did you know?!
- Oh, just a hunch...
- Here it is:
| SER | IR | VER | |
| yo | era | iba | veía |
| tú | eras | ibas | veías |
| él, ella, usted | era | iba | veía |
| nosotros/as | éramos | íbamos | veíamos |
| vosotros/as | erais | ibais | veíais |
| ellos/as, ustedes | eran | iban | veían |
- Those are a bit trickier, but I think they're still easier than the Pretérito Perfecto conjugations!
- It's one of the easiest tenses to learn in Spanish. Like I said, the big difficulty that most people face when learning this tense is the appropriate situations in which to use it. The conjugations themselves are quite easy.
- Wow! So is this it?
- Pretty much! We still have quite a bit of time before our time runs out. Would you like to kill two birds with one stone?
- No, I am against animal cruelty.
- I mean, would you like to learn something extra that will require very little effort...?
- Hmm... I'm not sure... What is it?
- I was thinking we could talk about the Pluperfect tense, since it is the de facto compound tense of the Imperfect.
- How hard will it be?
- As long as you know the Participles of the verbs, not hard at all.
- Alright, let's kill that second bird!
The three irregular verbs in the Imperfect tense in Spanish are: ser (to be), ir (to go), and ver (to see). They conjugate as era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran; iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban; and veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían. Even common irregular verbs like haber (to have), hacer (to do) or estar (to be) are regular in the Imperfect tense in Spanish, making it one of the easiest tenses.
- First things first. Do you know what the Pluperfect tense is?
- I had known the Pluperfect for a long time...
- Jake, you're brilliant! That's right: "had been", "had seen", "had done"... it's the auxiliary verb "to have" in the past + participle.
- Is it the same in Spanish?
- Exactly the same! You just need to conjugate the verb haber in the Imperfect tense and add the participle in front of it.
- Now, I think I understood what you said, but could you...
- I'll show you a preterite cheat sheet so let's use the same verbs you picked before:
| HABLAR | COMER | DORMIR | |
| yo | había hablado | había comido | había dormido |
| tú | habías hablado | habías comido | habías dormido |
| él, ella, usted | había hablado | había comido | había dormido |
| nosotros/as | habíamos hablado | habíamos comido | habíamos dormido |
| vosotros/as | habíais hablado | habíais comido | habíais dormido |
| ellos/as, ustedes | habían hablado | habían comido | habían dormido |
That one is as easy as the Perfect Compound tense! And is it used in the situations as we use it in English?
Yes, this one is very easy to translate into English. Just make sure not to mix the Pluperfect with the Perfect Compound. Remember your four past tenses:
| Spanish | English | |
| Pretérito Perfecto Simple | Perfect Simple | Yo fui. | I was. |
| Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto | Perfect Compound | Yo he sido. | I have been. |
| Pretérito Imperfecto | Imperfect | Yo era. | I used to be. |
| Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto | Pluperfect | Yo había sido. | I had been. |
- You're a legend. With this table, it's super easy to memorize!
- Sure am! And another good thing is that the Spanish participle is way simpler than in English, with all the irregularities. In Spanish, all you need is to simply remove the two-letter endings and add -ado (for -ar verbs) or -ido (for -er and -ir verbs): hablar, hablado; comer, comido; dormir, dormido.
- What about with irregular verbs?
- There are a few irregular participles, but the most common ones are regular. Even verbs that tend to be irregular follow the same pattern: ser, sido; estar, estado; ir, ido. The most common irregular participles would be: abrir (to open), abierto; decir (to say), dicho; escribir (to write), escrito; hacer (to do), hecho; and ver (to see), visto.
- Oh boy...
- No need to worry about those right now. Today's lesson was about the Imperfecto and you nailed it! The Pluscuamperfecto was just a bonus.
- Pluscuamperfecto... That's quite the mouthful. They should come up with a simpler name.
- Any suggestions?
- Hmm. How about Super Perfecto?
- Not gonna lie, that could actually catch on!
As a quick recap, we use the Imperfecto to describe:
Now that you know how easy the Imperfect tense is, describing the past should be a piece of torta! Check the Video Lessons that we included in this class so that you can get the full scope of this subject. We've even included some questions so try them out and see if you get the correct answer to all of them.
And don't forget to practice as much as possible. If you have a Spanish-speaking friend, try and use the Imperfect next time you talk to them!
Make sure to check our other lessons, where we follow Jake's journey as he tries to learn Spanish and Pablo's struggle as he tries to teach him.
Stay learning!
