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Tense guide
Pretérito imperfecto (Imperfect)

Language: Spanish
Tense:
Person:

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Introduction

This verb tense describes the past in a general way. It talks about actions that happened repeatedly, were in progress, or that set the scene. Think of it as painting a picture of what the past was like or what used to happen, without focusing on a specific start or end time.

Use this tense for actions that happened repeatedly or habitually in the past. It's the most common way to say what someone "used to do" or "would do" regularly.

Cuando era niño, jugaba con mis amigos en el parque.
(When I was a child, I used to play with my friends in the park.)
Siempre visitábamos a nuestros abuelos los domingos.
(We always used to visit our grandparents on Sundays.)
Mi padre leía el periódico cada mañana.
(My father would read the newspaper every morning.)
Ellos iban a la playa todos los veranos.
(They used to go to the beach every summer.)

Use this tense to describe people, things, places, or situations in the past. It sets the scene and gives background information, telling you how things were.

La casa era vieja y tenía las ventanas grandes.
(The house was old and had big windows.)
El sol brillaba y los pájaros cantaban.
(The sun was shining and the birds were singing.)
El hombre llevaba un sombrero negro y parecía cansado.
(The man was wearing a black hat and seemed tired.)
Nosotros estábamos muy felices en esa época.
(We were very happy at that time.)

Use this tense for an action that was in progress in the past, often when it was interrupted by another, shorter action. It describes the background activity.

Yo caminaba a casa cuando empezó a llover.
(I was walking home when it started to rain.)
El niño dormía tranquilamente cuando su madre entró.
(The child was sleeping peacefully when his mother came in.)
Mientras nosotros cenábamos, sonó el teléfono.
(While we were eating dinner, the phone rang.)

Notice how this tense describes the longer, background action ("was walking", "was sleeping"), while the shorter, interrupting action uses a different kind of past tense.

Use this tense to talk about past internal states, such as feelings, thoughts, beliefs, or desires. These are conditions, not actions.

Yo quería un perro.
(I wanted a dog.)
Ella creía que era una buena idea.
(She believed it was a good idea.)
Nosotros pensábamos en las vacaciones.
(We were thinking about the vacation.)
Ustedes no sabían la verdad.
(You all did not know the truth.)

This tense is also used to tell the time or state someone's age in the past.

Eran las diez de la noche.
(It was ten at night.)
En 1990, mi madre tenía veinte años.
(In 1990, my mother was twenty years old.)

Further explanations

Conjugation patterns