Regular verbs
The majority of verbA 'doing' word; a word expressing action. 'Walk', 'talk', 'come', 'go', 'eat' and 'sleep' are all verbs. are regular in the imperfect tenseThe imperfect tense is used to describe things in the past, that used to happen regularly or an incomplete action..
The imperfect is formed by removing the -ar, -ir and -er endings from the infinitiveThe form of the verb that has not been conjugated and is usually translated with 'to' in English, for example 'to play'. and adding the imperfect endings:
| jugar (to play) | hacer (to make/do) | vivir (to live) | |
| (yo) | jugaba | hacía | vivía |
| (tú) | jugabas | hacías | vivías |
| (él/ella/usted) | jugaba | hacía | vivía |
| (nosotros/as) | jugábamos | hacíamos | vivíamos |
| (vosotros/as) | jugabais | hacíais | vivíais |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | jugaban | hacían | vivían |
| (yo) | |
| jugar (to play) | jugaba |
| hacer (to make/do) | hacía |
| vivir (to live) | vivía |
| (tú) | |
| jugar (to play) | jugabas |
| hacer (to make/do) | hacías |
| vivir (to live) | vivías |
| (él/ella/usted) | |
| jugar (to play) | jugaba |
| hacer (to make/do) | hacía |
| vivir (to live) | vivía |
| (nosotros/as) | |
| jugar (to play) | jugábamos |
| hacer (to make/do) | hacíamos |
| vivir (to live) | vivíamos |
| (vosotros/as) | |
| jugar (to play) | jugabais |
| hacer (to make/do) | hacíais |
| vivir (to live) | vivíais |
| (ellos/ellas/ustedes) | |
| jugar (to play) | jugaban |
| hacer (to make/do) | hacían |
| vivir (to live) | vivían |
As you can see, the endings for -er and -ir verbs are the same.
Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:
- Mi padre trabajaba en una oficina. (My father used to work in an office.)
- De niño, siempre comía caramelos. (As a child, I always used to eat sweets.)
Question
Write the imperfect tense of the following verbs.
- nadar (yo)
- vivir (nosotros)
- esperar (ellos)
- asistir (vosotros)
- comer (tú)
- aprender (ella)
- nadaba (I used to swim)
- vivíamos (we used to live)
- esperaban (they used to hope)
- asistíais (you used to attend)
- comías (you used to eat)
- aprendía (she used to learn)