Imperfect Conjugations

Spanish imperfect conjugations
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Imperfecto

The Spanish imperfect is relatively easy to conjugate. All regular and all but three irregular Spanish verbs are conjugated as follows:

  1. Take the verb’s infinitive
  2. Drop the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, -ir)
  3. Add the imperfect ending.

-ar verbs

In the imperfect, -ar verbs have an "aba" ending.

PronounEndinghablar > habl-comenzar > comenz-jugar > jug-
yo-abahablabacomenzabajugaba
-abashablabascomenzabasjugabas
él-abahablabacomenzabajugaba
nosotros-ábamoshablábamoscomenzábamosjugábamos
vosotros-abaishablabaiscomenzabaisjugabais
ellos-abanhablabancomenzabanjugaban

-er and -ir verbs

-er and -ir verbs both take an "ía" ending in the imperfect.

PronounEndingcom > com-vivir > viv-poner > pon-
yo-íacomíavivíaponía
-iascomíasvivíasponías
él-íacomíavivíaponía
nosotros-íamaoscomíamosvivíamosponíamos
vosotros-íaiscomíaisvivíaisponíais
ellos-íancomíanvivíanponían

Irregular verbs

Ir, ser, and ver are the only irregular verbs in the imperfect.

Pronoun ir – to go  ser – to be ver – to see
yo iba era veía
 ibas eras veías
él iba era veía
nosotros íbamos éramos veíamos
vosotros ibais erais veíais
ellos iban eran veían

  For all of the above, note that the yo and él forms are identical; if the context leaves ambiguity as to which person was doing the action, be sure to use the pronoun.

 Imperfect quizzes

Think you’ve got it? Test yourself on the imperfecto with these exercises:

Note: You must be logged into your Progress with Lawless Spanish account to take these tests. If you don’t have one, sign up – it’s free!

 Related lessons

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Imperfecto - Spanish imperfect conjugations

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