Pretérito Imper

The mental shift you need to make is moving away from "points" in time and focusing on "periods" or "processes." In English, we often translate this tense as "used to" or "was doing." For example, if you want to say "I used to play soccer," you would use the Imperfect. If you want to say "I was walking when it started to rain," the "was walking" part is the Imperfect. It describes actions that didn't have a clear beginning or end in the context of your story. It’s like the "vibe" of the past. Imagine you’re at a job interview and you’re describing your previous roles. You’d use the Imperfect to describe your daily responsibilities because they were habits, not one-time events. It sets the stage so that other specific actions (in the Preterite) can take the spotlight.

1. 1Forming the Imperfect is like following a simple recipe. You start with the infinitive, drop the ending (-ar, -er, or -ir), and add the new endings.
2. 2For -ar verbs, the endings are: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban.
3. 3For -er and -ir verbs, they share the same endings: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
4. 4Pay close attention to the accents! In the -ar group, only the nosotros form (-ábamos) has an accent. In the -er/-ir group, every single ending has an accent on the í. This makes them sound very rhythmic.
5. 5What about the rebels? There are only three irregular verbs in the entire Imperfect tense:
6. 6Ser (to be): era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran.
7. 7Ir (to go): iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban.
8. 8Ver (to see): veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían.
9. 9That's it. Just three! If you can memorize those, you’ve basically mastered the mechanics of this tense. It’s like a grammar holiday.

You will use this tense in several key real-world scenarios. First, for habitual actions in the past. If you ate an apple every morning for breakfast when you were ten, you’d say comía. Second, for descriptions. This includes people, places, and things. If you’re telling a friend about a date you went on, you’d use the Imperfect to describe the restaurant (era elegante) or your date's personality (era simpático).

Third, for age, time, and weather in the past. To say "I was five years old," you say tenía cinco años. To say "It was three o'clock," you say eran las tres. To say "It was sunny," you say hacía sol. Fourth, for feelings and mental states. Since feelings usually last for a while, we say estaba feliz (I was happy) or quería un helado (I wanted an ice cream). Finally, use it for background actions happening simultaneously. "I was studying while my brother was playing" uses the Imperfect for both verbs: Yo estudiaba mientras mi hermano jugaba.

Avoid using the Imperfect for actions that happened once and were completed. If you say "I bought a car yesterday," that is a finished, specific event. You would use the Preterite (compré), not the Imperfect. If you use the Imperfect there, it sounds like you were "in the process of buying" the car for an indefinite amount of time, or you "used to buy" cars every day (must be nice!). Also, don't use it when a specific duration is mentioned. If you say "I lived in Madrid for two years," the "two years" marks a clear end, so the Preterite is better. Think of it like a grammar traffic light: the Imperfect is the yellow light (ongoing/changing), while the Preterite is the red light (stop/finished).

The most frequent slip-up is forgetting the accents on the -ía endings. Without the accent, it’s not Spanish! Another common error is using ser in the Preterite (fue) when you should use the Imperfect (era) for descriptions. Remember: fue is a specific event (The party was great/finished), while era is a general quality (He was a tall kid).

Native speakers might also laugh (kindly!) if you mix up the nosotros forms. In the -ar group, nosotros always needs that accent on the first a (hablábamos). If you forget it, the rhythm is off. Also, watch out for ver. People often forget it is irregular and try to say vía instead of veía. It’s a small detail, but it makes you sound much more fluent. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes when they are kids, so don't be too hard on yourself!

The big showdown is always Imperfecto vs Indefinido. Think of the Indefinido as the "what happened" and the Imperfecto as the "what was happening." If you are writing a novel, the Imperfecto describes the dark, stormy night and the creaky door, while the Indefinido describes the moment the hero walked into the room.

In a real-life scenario like ordering food, you might say Quería pedir... (I wanted to order...) using the Imperfect. It sounds softer and more polite than the direct "I want." It’s a subtle trick that makes you sound less like a tourist and more like a local.