Quick Explanation

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. The most common use for the imperfect tense is when we refer to a habitual, customary action.

Yo jugaba tenis todos los fines de semana cuando era niño.
I used to play tennis as a child every weekend.

Nosotros íbamos a la playa de vez en cuando.
We used to go to the beach every once in a while.

Ella caminaba en la noche.
She used to walk at night.

Long Explanation
There are other different expressions in which you use the imperfect tense.

*to express an ongoing action in the past with no reference to its beginning or ending

Ellos se sentían muy decepcionados del profesor.
They were let down by the teacher.

*descriptions of people or circumstances in the past

La princesa era muy hermosa.
The princess was very beautiful.

Había muchos niños en la clase.
There were many children in the house.

*past descriptions including background information surrounding the action

Yo jubaga en la calle cuando comenzó a llover.
I was playing on the street when it started raining.

*to express a state of mind (verbs like: creer, pensar, querer, saber, etc.)

Yo pensaba que tú eras el esposo de Rosa.
I thought you were Rosa's husband.

*age or time in the past

Tenía 4 años cuando fue el terremoto.
I was four years old when the earthquake happened.

Eran las diez de la mañana cuando Rodrigo se levantó.
It was ten in the morning when Rodrigo got up.

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)
Ud./él/ella	hablaba	(he was speaking)	(he used to speak)
nosotros	hablábamos	(we were speaking)	(we used to speak)
vosotros	hablabais	(you guys were speaking)	(you guys used to speak)
Uds./ellos/ellas	hablaban	(they were speaking)	(they used to speak)

Footnote: Yo = I, Tú = You (casual), Él, Ella, Usted = He, She, You
(formal), Nosotros = We (males/mixed group), Nosotras = We (females), Ellos
= They (males/mixed group), Ellas = They(females), Ustedes = You (plural)

Imperfect - querer

yo	quería	(I was wanting)	I used to want)
tú	querías	(you were wanting)	(you used to want)
Ud./él/ella	quería	(he was wanting)	(he used to want)
nosotros	queríamos	(we were wanting)	(we used to want)
vosotros	queríais	(you guys were wanting)	(you guys used to want)
Uds./ellos/ellas	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)
Ud./él/ella	escribía	(he was writing)	(he used to write)
nosotros	escribíamos	(we were writing)	(we used to write)
vosotros	escribíais	(you guys were writing)	(you guys used to write)
Uds./ellos/ellas	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.

Use Imperfect -ar verbs

Use Imperfect -er verbs

Use Imperfect -ir verbs

Fill-in-the-Blank Quizzes

Imperfect 1
Imperfect 2
Imperfect 3
Imperfect 4
Imperfect 5
Imperfect 6
Imperfect 7
Imperfect 8
Imperfect 9
Imperfect 10