Spanish Imperfect Tense - Pretérito Imperfecto (Médicos)
Imperfect Tense - Theory
One of the two simple past tenses in Spanish is the imperfect. The Imperfect Past tense is used to describe actions or situations that were incomplete or in progress at the point of time in the past that is being described. It is also used for ongoing conditions and repeated occurrences in the past.
The imperfect is the easiest, most regular tense in Spanish. You will notice below that -er and -ir verbs have the same endings (all with accents). The formation of the Imperfect for the regular verbs hablar (to speak), querer (to want), and escribir (to write) is shown in the tables below.
Imperfect - hablar
| Yo | hablaba | (I was speaking) | (I used to speak) |
| Tú | hablabas | (you were speaking) | (you used to speak) |
| Él | hablaba | (he was speaking) | (he used to speak) |
| Nosotros | hablábamos | (we were speaking) | (we used to speak) |
| Ellos | hablaban | (they were speaking) | (they used to speak) |
Imperfect - querer
| Yo | quería | (I was wanting) | I used to want) |
| Tú | querías | (you were wanting) | (you used to want) |
| Él | quería | (he was wanting) | (he used to want) |
| Nosotros | queríamos | (we were wanting) | (we used to want) |
| Ellos | querían | (they were wanting) | (they used to want) |
Imperfect - escribir
| Yo | escribía | (I was writing) | (I used to write) |
| Tú | escribías | (you were writing) | (you used to write) |
| Él | escribía | (he was writing) | (he used to write) |
| Nosotros | escribíamos | (we were writing) | (we used to write) |
| Ellos | escribían | (they were writing) | (they used to write) |
Footnote: Since the first and third person singular forms are identical, it is necessary to use the subject pronoun unless the context makes the subject clear. There is no stem change or irregular yo forms in any verb.
Uses of the Imperfect
Yo siempre andaba en bicicleta cuando era joven.
I always used to ride bike when I was young.
I always used to ride bike when I was young.
Eran las nueve de la mañana.
It was nine in the morning.
It was nine in the morning.
Visitábamos mi abuela cada verano.
We used to visit my grandmother every summer.
We used to visit my grandmother every summer.
Mi primer carro no tenía radio.
My first car didn't have a radio.
My first car didn't have a radio.
Hace años no existía el carro ni la computadora.
Years ago the car and the computer didn't exist.
Years ago the car and the computer didn't exist.
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Category: Medical Spanish