IMPERFECTO/ IMPERFECT TENSE

The imperfect is the other past tense in Spanish. Its uses are different from those of the preterit. They are used in different contexts and emphasize the continuation of an action in the past. To form the imperfect tense, remove the infinitive endings (-ar, -er, and -ir) and add the following conjugated endings:

Pronoun	Comprar/ to buy	Vender/ to sell	Recibir/ to receive
yo/ I	compraba	vendía	recibía
tú/ you	comprabas	vendías	recibías
él, ella, Ud./ he, she, you	compraba	vendía	recibía
nosotros/ we	comprábamos	vendíamos	recibíamos
vosotros/ you	comprabais	vendíais	recibíais
ellos/ they	compraban	vendían	recibían

USES OF THE IMPERFECT TENSE

1. The Spanish imperfect tense has several meanings in English; the Spanish imperfect is used to describe actions that occurred repeatedly or habitually in the past. To communicate the same idea in English, the phrases used to or would, past continuous, or simple past are used.

El gerente negociaba con los vendedores.	The manager used to (would) negotiate with the vendors.
	The manager was negotiating (in the process of) with the vendors.***
	The manager negotiated (repeatedly) with the vendors.

NOTE in the above example, the imperfect is also used to describe a past action, which is still going on in the past, or an action whose beginning and ending are NOT specified or important. ***The equivalent in English is was or were + present participle.

 

2. The imperfect tense is used to describe physical conditions or characteristics of people and things in the past:

EXAMPLES

·         La compañía tenía muchos problemas económicos./ The company had a lot of economic problems.

·         El hijo de Susana era muy inteligente./ Susan's son was very intelligent.

 

3. It is also used to express ongoing emotional or mental states, desires and opinions in the past:

EXAMPLES

·         Nuestra casa matriz quería fusionar nuestra sucursal con otra compañía./ Our parent company wanted to merge our branch with another company.

·         Los trabajadores se sentían felices con el nuevo jefe./ The workers were happy with their new boss.

·         Nosotros creíamos que la fusión no funcionaba./ We believed that the merger was not working.

 

4. The imperfect is used to express time or age in the past:

EXAMPLES

·         Eran las tres de la tarde./ It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

·         Tenía un año cuando nos mudamos a la Argentina./ I was a year-old when we moved to Argentina.

 

5. The imperfect is used with the conjunction mientras/ while to express 2 or more ongoing and simultaneous actions:

EXAMPLE

La empresa quería expandir el mercado mientras que el departamento de justicias la demandaba./ The company was trying to expand its market while the Justice Department was suing them.

 

6. It is also used to describe a scene in the past:

EXAMPLES

·         La noche estaba calurosa./ The night was hot.

·         El paisaje era maravilloso./ The scenery was marvelous.

 

NOTE that the following expressions reflect a habitual or repeated action, which often require the use of the imperfect tense: siempre/ always, con frecuencia/ with frequency, generalmente/ generally, todos los días (horas, meses, años)/ every day (hour, month, year), and por lo general/ in general.

EXAMPLES

·         Siempre llovía en Londres./ It always rained in London.

·         Pedíamos préstamos con frecuencia./ Frequently, we would ask for loans.

·         Generalmente me sacaba un diez (10) en matemáticas./ Generally, I used to get an A in math.

·         Todos los días, tomábamos mate en la Argentina./ Every day we used to drink green tea in Argentina.

·         Por lo general, vendíamos mucho antes de Navidad./ In general, we used to sell a lot before Christmas.

 

7. Imperfect Tense: Irregular Verbs.

Pronoun	IR/ to go	SER/ to be	VER/ to see
yo/ I	iba	era	veía
tú/ you	ibas	eras	veías
él, ella, Ud./ he, she, you	iba	era	veía
nosotros/ we	íbamos	éramos	veíamos
vosotros/ you	ibais	erais	veíais
ellos/ they	iban	eran	veían

DIFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRETERIT AND THE IMPERFECT

The following verbs communicate different ideas when said in the preterit and the imperfect tense:

Poder/ to be able to

·         El inmigrante ilegal podía trabajar a escondidas./ The illegal immigrant was able to work secretly.

·         Él pudo trabajar./ He did manage to work. (It adds more emphasis)

Conocer/ to meet

·         El socio conocía a todos los empleados./ The partner used to know all of the employees.

·         Él conoció a todos los empleados el mes pasado./ He met all of the employees last month.

Saber/ to know

·         Sabía la clave de acceso./ I knew the password.

·         Supe la clave de acceso./ I found out the password.

Querer/ to want, desire

·         Mi cuñada no quería mudarse a los Estados Unidos./ My sister-in-law did not want to move to the US.

·         Ella no quiso mudarse./ She refused to move.

 

IDIOMATIC USES OF THE IMPERFECT

The imperfect is used to form idiomatic expressions, such as acabar de and hacía + time + que + imperfect tense:

1. Acabar de describes an action that "had just been done:"

·         Acabábamos de comer asado./ We had just eaten some barbecue.

2. hacía + time + que + imperfect tense is used in time expression:

·         Hacía unos años que no íbamos al zoológico./ For many years, we had not been going to the zoo.