Cuando era pequeño, vivía en el campo.
When I was little, I lived in the countryside.
Indicativo
Pretérito Imperfecto
Past habits, background states, and ongoing descriptions. MuyVerbs connects this tense to verb tables, context prompts, and short active-recall drills.
When to use Pretérito Imperfecto
- Habits in the past (Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol).
- Background descriptions: weather, age, scene (Hacía frío y la calle estaba vacía).
- Actions in progress when something else interrupted (Leía cuando sonó el teléfono).
- Polite or softened past requests (Quería preguntarte algo).
Formation
Add the imperfect endings to the stem. Only three verbs are irregular: ser (era), ir (iba), ver (veía). Everything else follows the regular pattern below.
| Pronoun | -ar (hablar) | -er (comer) | -ir (vivir) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaba | comía | vivía |
| tú | hablabas | comías | vivías |
| él / ella / Ud. | hablaba | comía | vivía |
| nosotros | hablábamos | comíamos | vivíamos |
| vosotros | hablabais | comíais | vivíais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | hablaban | comían | vivían |
Examples
Llovía sin parar aquella noche.
It was raining nonstop that night.
Todos los veranos íbamos a la playa.
Every summer we used to go to the beach.
Mientras cocinaba, escuchaba la radio.
While I was cooking, I listened to the radio.
Study note
How MuyVerbs trains Pretérito Imperfecto
Pretérito Imperfecto (Imperfect) is easier to retain when it is not learned as an isolated table. MuyVerbs connects each tense to a practical learning loop: identify when the form is used, study the pattern, compare real verb examples, and then answer short prompts until recall becomes automatic.
On the web you can inspect sample verbs, open full conjugation pages, and start a free drill for this tense. In the mobile app, the same work becomes a structured offline routine with saved progress, favorites, streaks, weak-verb review, and context sentences. That combination helps learners move from recognizing a tense to producing it accurately in conversation.
Internal tense map
Related tenses for Pretérito Imperfecto
Often confused with
These forms are close to Pretérito Imperfecto in timing, mood, or sentence logic. Compare them before you drill.
Related tenses in Indicativo: present and past
Use these pages to move through the same tense family and build stronger internal links between connected grammar topics.