Pretérito Imperfecto: The Spanish Imperfect Tense Explained

How to form the pretérito imperfecto

For -AR verbs, drop -ar and add: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For -ER and -IR verbs, drop -er/-ir and add: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. The endings are completely regular for all verbs except ser, ir, and ver.

When to use the pretérito imperfecto

• Past habits and routines: 'De niño, comía mucho chocolate.' (As a child I ate a lot of chocolate.)
• Ongoing past actions: 'Cuando llamaste, estudiaba.' (When you called, I was studying.)
• Past descriptions and background: 'Hacía sol y los pájaros cantaban.' (It was sunny and the birds were singing.)
• Age, time, and dates in the past: 'Tenía diez años.' (I was ten years old.)
• Two simultaneous past actions: 'Mientras yo leía, él dormía.'
• Polite requests: 'Quería un café.' (I would like a coffee.)

Trigger phrases that demand the imperfect

Imperfect vs Preterite — the rule

• Imperfect = description, habit, background

  Use the imperfect for 'used to' actions, ongoing past actions, and setting the scene. No clear endpoint.

• Preterite = completed action with endpoint

  Use the preterite (pretérito indefinido) for actions that happened once, completed within a defined timeframe. Has clear start and end.

• Both in one sentence

  Often the imperfect sets the scene while the preterite reports the event: 'Llovía cuando salí.' (It was raining when I left.)

• Three irregular verbs

  ser → era · ir → iba · ver → veía. Every other verb in Spanish is regular in the imperfect.

Pretérito Imperfecto — frequently asked

What is the pretérito imperfecto in Spanish?

The pretérito imperfecto is one of Spanish's two main past tenses. It describes ongoing actions, past habits, descriptions, and background states — actions without a clear endpoint. It corresponds to English 'used to + verb' or 'was/were + verb-ing'.

How is the Spanish imperfect different from the preterite?

The imperfect describes ongoing or habitual past actions ('I used to work'), descriptions, and background. The preterite (indefinido) describes completed past actions with a defined endpoint ('I worked yesterday'). Both can appear in the same sentence to set scene + report event.

Which verbs are irregular in the imperfect?

Only three: ser (era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran), ir (iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban), and ver (veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían). Every other Spanish verb is completely regular in the imperfect tense.

What are common trigger words for the Spanish imperfect?

siempre (always), todos los días (every day), a menudo (often), normalmente (usually), de niño/joven (as a child/young), mientras (while), cuando era (when I was). These signal habitual or ongoing past actions and demand the imperfect.

How do you conjugate ser in the imperfect?

Yo era, tú eras, él/ella era, nosotros éramos, vosotros erais, ellos eran. Ser is one of three irregular verbs in the imperfect.