Good afternoon, Steemians!
The imperfect tense is used to describe actions that were continuous or habitual in the past tense. This tense is unlike the simple past tense (preterite), which I talked about in this post here: https://steemit.com/spanish/@vegansilverstack/how-to-use-simple-past-tense-preterite-for-er-ir-verbs-in-spanish-intermediate-level.
Actions in Progress (continuous) vs. Simple Past:
In English, the difference would be something like: Yesterday, I went to the store. (action completed) vs. Yesterday, I was going to the store, when all of the sudden (something happened). Do you see the difference? You were going is different from you went. This is the example of continuous action.
Another example: While I was eating lunch and then the mailman arrived. You were doing something and then another thing happened. The continuous action (was eating) would be the imperfect tense while the completed action (the mailman arrived) would be in the preterite or simple past tense.
So, now that we have an understanding of the differences on when to use the imperfect tense in Spanish, let's learn the appropriate endings:
For -AR verbs, we have one set of endings that go on the end of the infinitive (root) verb.
For example: Hablar = to talk. We take off the -AR ending and replace with the following endings:
yo = -aba - Yo hablaba con mi mamá. = I was talking or I used to talk with my mom.
tú = -abas - Tú hablabas mucho cuando eras niño. = You used to talk a lot when you were a kid.
él/ella/usted = -aba - Ella le hablaba al doctor acerca de su enfermedad. = She was talking to the doctor about her ailment.
nosotros(as) = -ábamos - Nosotros hablábamos mucho antes, pero ya no tanto. = We used to speak to each other a lot, but not anymore.
vosotros(as) = -abais = Vosotras hablabais inglés cuando estabais en Inglaterra. = You all (Spain) would speak English when you were in England.
ellos(as)/ustedes = -aban = Ustedes hablaban por horas por teléfono anoche. = You all were talking for hours on the phone last night.
Now, these endings only work with -AR verbs.
For -ER/-IR verbs, we need to use the following:
yo = ía
tú = ías
él/ella/usted = ía
nosotros(as) = íamos
vosotros(as) = íais
ellos(as)/ustedes = ían
Let's use the verb poner which means "to put" or "to place"
Yo ponía mis llaves en mi cuarto cuando sonó la alarma. = I was putting my keys in my room when I heard the alarm sound.
Tú ponías la mesa cuando eras pequeña. = You used to set the table when you were young. (in this case, poner is used as "to set" for the use of "set the table" in English.)
Él ponía el carro en retroceso cuando de repente vio un ratón. = He was putting the car in reverse when all of the sudden he saw a mouse.
Nosotros poníamos la comida en la nevera y tú llegaste. = We were putting the food in the fridge and then you arrived.
Vosotros os poníais la ropa rápido porque estabais de prisa. = You all (Spain) were putting on your clothes quickly because you were in a hurry.
Ellos ponían la mantequilla en la mesa cuando se dieron cuenta de que no había pan. = They were putting the butter on the table when they realized there was no bread.
Now I'm going to use other verbs to show you how they're conjugated to use the imperfect tense some more:
- Cuando yo era (irregular) niño, quería ser bombero. = When I was little, I wanted to be a firefighter. (Era is and irregular form of ser)
- Tú les tenías miedo a los fantasmas cuando eras jóven. = You used to be afraid of ghosts when you were young.
- Ella manejaba su carro al restaurante cada viernes. = She drove her car to the restaurant every Friday.
- Nosotros nos llamábamos anteriormente más que ahora. = We used to call each other more than we do now.
- Vosotros comíais en el mismo sitio cada día. = You guys (Spain) used to eat in the same spot every day.
- Ustedes no dormían en clase jamás. = You guys never slept in class.
