Pretérito Imperfecto in Spanish
el pretérito imperfecto
The imperfect past tense in Spanish used to describe habitual actions, conditions, or ongoing situations in the past.
The Pretérito Imperfecto is used to set the background of a story in the past, describe habitual or repeated actions, tell time, describe age, and detail mental or physical states. Regular -ar verbs end in -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Regular -er/-ir verbs end in -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Crucially, there are only three irregular verbs in this tense: ir (iba), ser (era), and ver (veía). It answers to "what was happening" or "what used to happen".
Examples
Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días.
When I was a child, I used to play soccer every day.
Hacía mucho sol y la gente caminaba por el parque.
It was very sunny and people were walking through the park.
Yo leía mientras él cocinaba.
I was reading while he was cooking.
Related terms
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