The "Once Upon a Time" Tense: Mastering the Spanish Imperfect , LEVEL A2

Welcome to the imperfect tense (el imperfecto)!

Unlike the preterit, the imperfect tense captures past actions that are not seen as completed. Think of it as the "moving picture" of the Spanish past. Today, we’re unpacking exactly when to use it, how to conjugate it with ease, and the only three exceptions you ever have to worry about.

🎭 The 7 Main Triggers of the Imperfect

When should you reach for the imperfect instead of the preterit? Use the imperfect to express:

• Background Information: To "set the stage," narrate a situation, or provide background in the past.

• Habitual Actions: To talk about repeated, customary, or "used to" actions.

• Continuous Actions: To describe actions that were actively in progress in the past.

• Descriptions: To paint a mental picture of people, places, or things in the past.

• Point of Origin: To say where someone or something was originally from.

• Time: To tell what time it was in the past.

• Age: To state how old someone was.

🎨 Regular -AR Verbs: The "Abba" Family

Brilliant news for Spanish learners: there are absolutely zero irregular -ar verbs in the imperfect tense! To conjugate them, drop your -ar ending and replace it with these catchy, melodic endings:

$$\text{-aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban}$$

Let’s check out hablar (to speak) and trabajar (to work) in action:

Subject	Hablar (To Speak)	Trabajar (To Work)
Yo	hablaba	trabajaba
Tú	hablabas	trabajabas
Él / Ella / Ud.	hablaba	trabajaba
Nosotros	hablábamos	trabajábamos
Vosotros	hablabais	trabajais
Ellos / Ellas / Uds.	hablaban	trabajaban

💡 Take Note: The yo form and the él/ella/Ud. form are completely identical in the imperfect tense. Context will naturally tell your listener who is doing the action. Also, ensure you place a written accent mark on the nosotros form (-ábamos) to keep the pronunciation precise!

🍦 Regular -ER and -IR Verbs: The "Ia" Family

Just like in the preterit tense, -er and -ir verbs team up and share the exact same endings. Drop the infinitive ending and add these to your stem:

$$\text{-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían}$$

Every single one of these endings features an accent mark over the í, so make sure to give it that vocal punch!

Let’s view tener (to have) and venir (to come) as examples:

Subject	Tener (To Have)	Venir (To Come)
Yo	tenía	venía
Tú	tenías	venías
Él / Ella / Ud.	tenía	venía
Nosotros	teníamos	veníamos
Vosotros	teníais	veníais
Ellos / Ellas / Uds.	tenían	venían

🚨 Bonus Vocabulary Powerup: Había

The verb haber transforms into a highly useful word in the imperfect: había. It is used to express "there was" or "there were". No matter if the object following it is singular or plural, había stays exactly the same!

• Había una fiesta. (There was a party.)

• Había muchos libros. (There were many books.)

🦄 The Ultimate Cheat Code: The Only 3 Irregulars!

If you’ve struggled memorizing dozens of irregular verbs in other tenses, you can breathe a massive sigh of relief. There are only three irregular verbs in the entire imperfect tense. That’s it!

Memorize ir (to go), ser (to be), and ver (to see) below, and you have officially mastered the rules of the imperfect:

Subject	Ir (To Go)	Ser (To Be)	Ver (To See)
Yo	iba	era	veía
Tú	ibas	eras	veías
Él / Ella / Ud.	iba	era	veía
Nosotros	íbamos	éramos	veíamos
Vosotros	ibais	erais	veíais
Ellos / Ellas / Uds.	iban