Imperfect tense
The imperfect tense, in the classical grammar of several Indo-European languages, denotes a past tense with imperfective aspect. It corresponds to the English past-continuous tense.
In Spanish, the imperfect is a past tense. Its uses include representing:
- An action that was going on at the same time as another action
- An action that was going on when another action occurred
- A habitual action in the past.
- A description of a mental, emotional, or physical condition
- The time or date in the past
Conjugation:
| hablar | comer | insistir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | hablaba | comía | insistía |
| tú | hablabas | comías | insistías |
| él | hablaba | comía | insistía |
| nosotros | hablabámos | comíamos | insistíamos |
| vostros | hablabais | comíais | insistíais |
| ellos | hablaban | comían | insistían |
Notes:
- The yo and el/ella/usted forms are the same for verbs ending in ar, er, and ir.
- There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense: ir, ser, and ver.