Spanish II: Regular Verbs in the Imperfect

The formation of verbs in the preterit is much more difficult than in the imperfect. If you do not like learning irregularities, you will find the imperfect tense the most “perfect” tense. Only three verbs in the entire language are irregular in the imperfect tense.

The - ar endings found in Table 1 are used for every - ar verb in the imperfect. There is not a single - ar verb that is irregular in the imperfect tense. There are no spelling changes and no stem changes in any verb in this tense. Notice that the yo form is exactly like the él, ella, and usted forms. Use a pronoun to specify the subject if it is not clear in a sentence. Also notice that only the nosotros/nosotras form carries a written accent mark.

TABLE 1

Imperfect Tense Endings for All - ar Verbs

Subject	Ending	Subject	Ending
yo	-aba	nosotros/nosotras	-ábamos
tú	-abas	vosotros/vosotras	-abais
él	-aba	ellos	-aban
ella	-aba	ellas	-aban
usted	-aba	ustedes	-aban

A stem-changing verb like empezar (to begin) does not undergo a stem change in the imperfect. Notice in Table 2 that the verb empezar is completely regular in all forms of the imperfect tense.

TABLE 2

Imperfect Tense Forms of the Verb Empezar (to Begin)

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	empezaba	nosotros/nosotras	empezábamos
tú	empezabas	vosotros/vosotras	empezabais
él	empezaba	ellos	empezaban
ella	empezaba	ellas	empezaban
usted	empezaba	ustedes	empezaban

The endings in Table 3 are used for both - ir and - er verbs. Ser, ir, and ver are the only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense; for every other - er and - ir verb, use the endings in Table 3 . Notice that all imperfect tense forms of - er and - ir verbs have a written accent mark on the letter i.

TABLE 3

Imperfect Tense Forms of Regular - er and - ir Verbs

Subject	Ending	Subject	Ending
yo	-ía	nosotros/nosotras	-íamos
tú	-ías	vosotros/vosotras	-íais
él	-ía	ellos	-ían
ella	-ía	ellas	-ían
usted	-ía	ustedes	-ían

A regular verb like escribir (to write), conjugated in Table 4 , serves as a good example of an - ir verb in the imperfect tense.

TABLE 4

Imperfect Tense Forms of Escribir (to Write)

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	escribía	nosotros/nosotras	escribíamos
tú	escribías	vosotros/vosotras	escribíais
él	escribía	ellos	escribían
ella	escribía	ellas	escribían
usted	escribía	ustedes	escribían

The -er verbs use the exact same endings in the imperfect tense as the -ir verbs. The verb entender (to understand) is a good example; notice in Table 5 that entender does not undergo a stem change in the imperfect tense as it does in the present.

TABLE 5

Imperfect Tense Forms of Entender (to Understand)

Subject	Verb	Subject	Verb
yo	entendía	nosotros/nosotras	entendíamos
tú	entendías	vosotros/vosotras	entendíais
él	entendía	ellos	entendían
ella	entendía	ellas	entendían
usted	entendía	ustedes	entendían

Regular Verbs in the Imperfect

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Regular Verbs in the Imperfect

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Regular Verbs in the Imperfect

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