Imperfect

The imperfect (imperfecto) is one of the two simple past tenses in Spanish. It is used for ongoing or recurrent actions in the past. It is also used for descriptions, states of being, and for providing background information about the past.

Forms

Regular verbs can be divided into 2 categories in the imperfect: –ar verbs and –er/–ir verbs. The regular imperfect endings are showed in the tables below.

–ar verbs

hablar  to speak
yo hablaba	nosotros/as hablábamos
tú hablabas
él/ella/usted hablaba	ellos/as/ustedes hablaban

–ir and –er verbs

comer  to eat
yo comía	nosotros/as comíamos
tú comías
él/ella/usted comía	ellos/as/ustedes comían

Cada octubre había una peregrinación grandísima. En toda la carretera, creo que eran doce carriles, no había carros, nada más la carroza en la que iba la muñeca.
Every October there was a huge pilgrimage. In the whole highway, I think there were twelve lanes, there were no cars, just, the carriage where the doll went.

Irregular Verbs

There are only 3 irregular verbs in the imperfect: ser, ir, ver

ser  to be
yo era	nosotros/as éramos
tú eras
él/ella/usted era	ellos/as/ustedes eran

ir  to go
yo iba	nosotros/as íbamos
tú ibas
él/ella/usted iba	ellos/as/ustedes iban

ver  to see
yo veía	nosotros/as veíamos
tú veías
él/ella/usted veía	ellos/as/ustedes veían

Yo creo que el reto más difícil para mí era hablar el inglés.
I think that the most difficult challenge for me was speaking in English.

Uses

The imperfect tense has two primary uses: to describe on-going actions and states of being in the past, and to state habitual actions in the past. The preterit and imperfect are each used quite differently in narration.

States of Being or Past Description

The imperfect is used to describe people, places, conditions or situations in the past. Some verbs occur more frequently in the imperfect when they are in the past since they typically describe states of being: ser, tener, estar, gustar, etc. But these verbs do sometimes occur in the preterit.

A mí me gustaba negociar, me gustaba hacer otras cosas.
I used to like trading, I used to like to do other things.

Habitual Actions in the Past

The imperfect is also used to state habitual actions in the past. These past habits are often translated as used to. Note that the imperfect may also be translated by the simple past in English; however, the context, and often adverbs, let you know the action is a past habit.

Ella y yo convivíamos con mi papá y mi mamá en la iglesia, nos íbamos de compras.
She and I used to live together with my dad and my mom in the church, we used to go shopping.

For more information about the uses of the imperfect and comparisons with the preterit, see also the page about narration.