Imperfect tense in Spanish – with audio!

I used to think that Spanish grammar is complicated 

Antes pensaba que la gramática española es difícil

We agree with you. The imperfect tense in Spanish can get a little deep at times. So, let’s start with the basics and worry about the trickier things later. 

The imperfect tense describes actions that were going on for a while in the past.

Examples:

• I used to cook every weekend
• They were in the pool when it started to rain
• When I lived in Mexico, I had a lot of friends and used to eat a lot of spicy food

The verbs above in bold all describe actions that were happening for a while in the past. So, when we translate these into Spanish, they need to be in the imperfect tense. Here are their translations:

• I used to cook every weekend
  Yo cocinaba todos los fines de semana

• They were in the pool when it started to rain
  Ellos estaban en la piscina cuando empezó a llover

• When I lived in México, I had a lot of friends and used to eat a lot of spicy food
  Cuando vivía en México, tenía muchos amigos y comía mucha comida picante

Now, that is the imperfect tense in a nutshell. But as you have already guessed, it gets a little more complicated. But we won’t bombard you with more rules just right now. 

However, if you keep the general idea in mind that the imperfect tense describes “actions that were happening for a while in the past” you will already have 90% of the grammar down. 

In this article we’ll cover:

• What is the imperfect tense?
• When to use the imperfect in Spanish
  • Routine and habits
  • An action in progress that was interrupted
  • Describing characteristics, conditions, feelings
  • Dates and time
  • Age and periods of life
  • Other cases of the imperfect tense

• Regular verbs imperfect conjugation
• Irregular verbs imperfect conjugation
• Practice time
• Final words
• Answers

Let’s get the party started!

What is the imperfect tense?

The imperfect tense is just one of the past tenses in the Spanish language. Yes, that’s right,  just one of many. Please don’t try tackling them all today, as they will drown you. Let’s keep focused on the imperfect tense for now. 

So what exactly is the imperfect tense?

This tense is used to talk about the following:

• Routines and habits
• An action that was going on and was suddenly interrupted
• A description of someone or something (age, time, feelings, dates)
• Stories and certain periods of time

This might look like a lot to remember. So here’s something that will make it simpler. The imperfect tense describes things that were going on for a while in the past.

With that simple rule in mind, you will be able to understand its different uses better.

Now, stick with me as we dive into the details.

When to use the imperfect in Spanish

In this section, we’ll see lots of instances where the imperfect tense is used. Let’s break the ice with this first one:

Routines and habits 

When you want to talk about actions that were routine or actions that you used to do frequently, you have to use the imperfect tense. 

Examples:

• I used to cook every weekend
  Yo cocinaba todos los fines de semana

• My mom always used to travel at Christmas
  Mi madre siempre viajaba en navidad 

When describing routine habits in the past, you’ll see a lot of frequency adverbs such as: 

• Always
  Siempre

• Never
  Nunca

• Sometimes 
  A veces

Here is an example of a frequency adverb and the imperfect tense together:

• My mom always used to travel at Christmas
  Mi madre siempre viajaba en navidad 

So, when you want to describe something in the past with a frequency adverb, you should use the imperfect tense. 

Ok, now that’s the first one out the way. Let’s tackle the next.

An action in progress that was interrupted 

You will also see the imperfect tense used to talk about an action that was happening and suddenly was interrupted by another action.

What exactly do we mean by that? 

Here are some examples that will better help you grasp this idea:

• They were in the pool when it started to rain
  Ellos estaban en la piscina cuando empezó a llover

• I was sleeping, when my mom came into my room
  Yo dormía, cuando mi madre entró a mi habitación

• Ana was cooking pasta, when her brother finished his homework
  Ana cocinaba la pasta, cuando su hermano terminó la tarea

Now, here’s a handy tip for you. The word “when” – “cuando“ is always used in order to connect the action that was in progress, with the other action that took place at that moment. This should make it easier for you to remember when you need to use the imperfect tense.

You can see the “when” – “cuando” connecting the two phrases in these examples:

• They were in the pool when it started to rain
  Ellos estaban en la piscina cuando empezó a llover

• I was sleeping, when my mom came into my room
  Yo dormía, cuando mi madre entró a mi habitación

• Ana was cooking pasta, when her brother finished his homework
  Ana cocinaba la pasta, cuando su hermano terminó la tarea

Here comes another tip that will make this one even more straightforward. Just like in English, the second action, the one that does the interrupting, is usually in the preterite tense (the simple past tense). 

Take a look at the following examples. The verbs in the latter part of the sentence are all in the preterit tense (simple past) both in English and Spanish:

• They were in the pool when it started to rain
  Ellos estaban en la piscina cuando empezó a llover

• I was sleeping, when my mom came into my room
  Yo dormía, cuando mi madre entró a mi habitación

• Ana was cooking pasta, when her brother finished his homework
  Ana cocinaba la pasta, cuando su hermano terminó la tarea

Say cheese! You’ve now got the complete picture. Here’s a handy formula that will help you to remember it:

Something that used to happen (imperfect tense) + “when” + something that interrupted it (preterit tense)

Describing characteristics, conditions, and feelings

If you love to tell crazy stories about your past experiences, then the imperfect tense is for you!  Oh yeah!

(Or even if you need to tell a boring story about what happened at the bank yesterday, you still need the imperfect tense. Sorry.)

When you talk about actions that happened in the past and this includes physical descriptions of someone or something, feeling, moods and senses, you use the imperfect tense.

Examples:

• Yesterday they were really tired
  Ayer ellos estaban muy cansados

• Juan was tall and skinny, he had long hair
  Juan era alto y delgado, él tenía el cabello largo

• It was really hot in Miami, but we were ok
  Hacía mucho calor en Miami, pero estábamos bien 

• When I lived in México, I had a lot of friends and used to eat a lot of spicy food
  Cuando vivía en México, tenía muchos amigos y comía mucha comida picante

Dates and time

The imperfect tense is also used to talk about dates and times in the past.

Examples:

• It was the 20th of July
  Era el 20 de julio

• The party was at 8 PM
  La fiesta era a las 8 PM

The imperfect tense will help you here to narrate events that happened in the past.

Age and periods of life

We also use the imperfect tense to talk about ages and periods of life in the past.

Examples:

• When I was a child
  Cuando era niño

• The dog was 1 year
  El perro tenía 1 año

• When I was 10 years old
  Cuando tenía 10 años

Other cases of the imperfect tense

There are two more cases where the imperfect tense is used in Spanish.

They’re both really easy,  so we’ll just explain them with examples.

The first case is that the imperfect tense is used to express a contrast between past and present.

Examples:

• Before I used to study until late, now I study little
  Antes estudiaba hasta tarde, ahora estudio poco

• When I used to live in Chile, I cooked a lot, but now I don’t cook
  Cuando vivía en Chile, cocinaba mucho, pero ahora no cocino 

The imperfect tense is used to describe two actions happening at the same time in the past.

You’ll need to connect both actions with the word “while” – “mientras“.

Examples:

• My family were getting the party ready, while the neighbors were arriving
  Mi familia preparaba la fiesta, mientras los vecinos llegaban

• I was drinking beer, while my friends were dancing
  Yo tomaba cerveza, mientras mis amigos bailaban 

Ok, you can now breathe a sigh of relief as we have come to the end of all the uses of the imperfect tense in Spanish!

We’ve come across a lot of new rules in this article that are hard to memorize all in one go. But if you just keep in the back of your mind the general idea that the imperfect tense describes things that were going on in the past for a while, you can guarantee you’ll be on the right track.

Imperfect tense conjugation

Fancy some good news? Who doesn’t?

The Spanish imperfect tense is the easiest of all tenses to conjugate! Now that, in my opinion, is grounds for a celebration. (We can pause here and allow time for a quick celebratory dance.)

Although the imperfect tense is easy to conjugate, there are both regular verbs and irregular verbs. No surprise there! 

But, allow me to let you in on some even better news – there are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense!

But let’s talk about regular conjugations first. Then we’ll get onto the tougher stuff later.

Regular verbs imperfect conjugation

Conjugating regular verbs in the imperfect tense couldn’t be simpler. You just need to keep the stem of the verb and change the ending. 
The conjugation of “ar” verbs is different than it is for “er/ir” verbs. Let’s take a look:

Subject pronouns	Ar	Er/Ir	Er/Ir
	Viajar	Tener	Vivir
Yo	Viajaba	Tenía	Vivía
Tú	Viajabas	Tenías	Vivías
Él-Ella-Usted	Viajaba	Tenía	Vivía
Ustedes-Ellos/Ellas	Viajaban	Tenían	Vivían
Nosotros/Nosotras	Viajábamos	Teníamos	Vivíamos

Here are some sample sentences with imperfect conjugation:

• They were dancing a lot at the party
  Ellos bailaban mucho en la fiesta

• You always left class early
  Tú siempre salías de la clase temprano

• I traveled a lot when I was in Perú
  Yo viajaba mucho cuando estaba en Perú

• Before I wanted a red car, but now I want a black car
  Antes quería un carro rojo, pero ahora quiero un carro negro

• When lived in Argentina, I had a big house
  Cuando vivía en Argentina, tenía una casa muy grande

• We were walking on the beach, while more people arrived
  Nosotros caminábamos por la playa, mientras llegaban más personas

Wasn’t that a piece of cake?! Now you’ll just need to keep going over the rules so that you can learn to quickly conjugate the verbs in your head.

To get into the swing of it all, try writing out the imperfect conjugations for these verbs:

1. To walk
   Caminar

2. To dance
   Bailar

3. To leave
   Salir

4. To be
   Estar 

5. To want
   Querer

Perfect, now let’s move forward to the irregular verbs or stem changing verbs. (We promise, they’re not that bad!)

Irregular verbs imperfect conjugation

Ready? Uno, dos tres… There are just three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense in Spanish. They are: 

• Ir
• Ser
• Ver

Here is the conjugation chart for these three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense:

Personal pronouns	Ir	Ser	Ver
Yo	Iba	Era	Veía
Tú	Ibas	Eras	Veías
Él-Ella-Usted	Iba	Era	Veía
Ustedes-Ellos/Ellas	Iban	Eran	Veían
Nosotros/Nosotras	Íbamos	Éramos	Veíamos

Here are the 3 irregular verbs in some example sentences:

• When I was young, I was skinnier
  Cuando era joven, era más flaca

• They always watched TV at night
  Ellos siempre veían la televisión en la noches

• We were going to your house early, but Maria was late
  Nosotros íbamos para tu casa temprano, pero María llegó tarde

Now, you might be wondering what you should do when you come across a reflexive verb. And guess what, the good news just keeps on rolling in as the rules stay exactly the same. To illustrate that, take a look at the following examples of reflexive verbs in the imperfect tense.

Examples:

• I used to go to bed very late
  Antes me acostaba muy tarde

• Your boyfriend always called you on the phone every Friday
  Tu novio siempre te llamaba por teléfono todos los viernes

Practice time

Now it is your turn to practice the imperfect endings in Spanish.

Fill in the blanks:

Example:

• Before, I used to eat too much.

Antes, comía demasiado.

1. When I was 10 years old, I used to watch a lot of superhero movies.
   Cuando _______ (tener) 10 años, _______ (ver) muchas películas de superhéroes.

2. You guys always ran every morning in the park.
   Ustedes siempre _______ (correr) todas las mañanas en el parque.

3. I was in my room when María arrived at the house.
   _________ (estar) en mi habitación, cuando María llegó a la casa.

4. It was cold in London, but I felt happy
   __________ (hacer) frío en Londres, pero me ________  (sentir) feliz.

5. When I was a little girl I used to play piano, but now I don’t play it.
   Cuando ________ (ser) pequeña, ________ (tocar) piano, pero ahora no lo toco.

6. We were talking with her parents, while she was getting dressed to go out.
   Nosotros __________(hablar) con sus padres, mientras ella se __________ (vestir) para salir.

7. It was December 24th when I saw my whole family.
   ______(ser) el 24 de diciembre cuando ví a toda mi familia.

Note: The answers are at the end of the article.

Final words

Yeah! Now you know all about the imperfect tense in Spanish.

So what now? 

You’ve heard the saying, use it or lose it! That means we have to keep going over the tense formation we learned today for it to stay fresh in our minds. You can practice by writing stories about things you did in the past and sharing them with your Spanish-speaking friends.

It is definitely a lot easier to practice when you have a native speaker by your side that can correct you when you go wrong and keep you on the right track. So with that in mind, why not book some one-on-one classes with our native teachers?

Check out our series of Complete Spanish Grammar articles – everything you’ll ever need to know about Spanish grammar.

Or, learn more about LingoToGo here.

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Answers

Here are the answers to the exercises in this imperfect tense guide.

1. When I was 10 years old, I used to watch a lot of superhero movies
Cuando tenía 10 años, veía muchas películas de superhéroes

2. You guys always ran every morning in the park
Ustedes siempre corrían todas las mañanas en el parque

3. I was in my room, when María arrived at the house
Estaba en mi habitación, cuando María llegó a la casa

4. It was cold in London, but I felt happy
Hacía frío en Londres, pero me sentía feliz

5. When was a little girl I used to play piano, but now I don’t play it
Cuando era pequeña, tocaba piano, pero ahora no lo toco

6. We were talking with her parents, while she was getting dressed to go out
Nosotros hablábamos con sus padres, mientras ella se vestía para salir

7. It was December 24th when I saw my whole family
Era el 24 de diciembre cuando ví a toda mi familiar

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