{"id":19527,"date":"2025-08-22T07:34:34","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T05:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/cuando-era-nino-me-gustaba-ir-al-circo-the-preterito-imperfecto\/"},"modified":"2025-08-23T06:42:44","modified_gmt":"2025-08-23T04:42:44","slug":"cuando-era-nino-me-gustaba-ir-al-circo-the-preterito-imperfecto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/cuando-era-nino-me-gustaba-ir-al-circo-the-preterito-imperfecto\/","title":{"rendered":"Cuando era ni\u00f1o me gustaba ir al circo: the pret\u00e9rito imperfecto"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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e saw, in the previous article, the pret\u00e9rito indefinido. In that article we also saw that the pret\u00e9rito indefinido, like all perfective tenses, emphasizes the completion of the verbal action. In this article we will see the imperfect tense, and I repeat concepts that I used in the previous article: although when we learn a language we get used to the different things that language has compared to the one or ones we already speak during the learning process, understanding concepts can accelerate the learning process. The pret\u00e9rito imperfecto, like all imperfective tenses, is used to introduce actions whose end is not important or is irrelevant from a semantic point of view. If I, for example, tell you that at six years old sab\u00eda leer (I knew how to read), the only message I want to convey to you is that I, at that age, had that ability. Whether I still know how to read or not cannot be known from that message, and it is irrelevant from a communicative point of view. And this doesn't connect with reality, in a strict sense: surely I still know how to read, unless something has happened to prevent me from doing so, but my message conveys neither one thing nor the other. On the contrary, if I tell you that at six years old le\u00ed un libro (I read a book) it follows from my message that that action, reading that book, ended. And the concept I want to leave here is that, beyond the rules for using the imperfect tense that we will see in this article, the choice between a perfective and an imperfective tense in Spanish depends, basically, on semantics. In many cases, moreover, these verb tenses overlap: if I say that en vacaciones me ba\u00f1aba todos los d\u00edas (on vacation I used to bathe every day) or en vacaciones me ba\u00f1\u00e9 todos los d\u00edas (on vacation I bathed every day) I am saying the same thing, and both constructions are valid. And one thing I can assure you: if you ask almost any native Spanish speaker who doesn't have theoretical training in the grammar of the language the difference between the indefinido and the imperfecto they won't be able to answer you. And if by chance they know the names of these verb tenses, they can probably simply give you examples of use but won't know how to tell you in which cases one or the other is used, although they use them perfectly. Thus, while the short path is to learn directly in which cases to use each of these preterites, the long path is to understand the concepts of perfectivity and imperfectivity. Which, in the long run, is shorter, because it helps with many other topics in the Spanish language. But enough, the introduction has already become too long. It was something like "in this article we will see the pret\u00e9rito imperfecto de indicativo. Its uses, its regular conjugation, frequently used irregular verbs and examples of use. Let's go!".\n<\/p>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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If you already have a certain level of handling of the imperfecto and what you have are doubts about when to use this verb tense and when the indefinido, I recommend that you read this<\/strong> <\/a>article. There you will find an explanation about the use and conjugation of both verb tenses, plus similar phrases in both verb tenses with an explanation of the context in which both would be used, that is, a comparison. If you are starting with the past tenses in Spanish, stay in this article.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is the pret\u00e9rito imperfecto?<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The pret\u00e9rito imperfecto is a verb tense of the indicative mood that we use to express actions that occurred in the past, but that do not have a definite end: when we use this verb tense we indicate that something was happening at a certain moment but, from a semantic point of view, we don’t know if that action ended. Unlike the pret\u00e9rito indefinido, the imperfecto presents actions to us as if we were seeing them “from the inside,” as a process in development. Its main uses are to introduce repetitive actions in the past, such as to describe our routine, to make descriptions of people, places, objects or weather in the past, to introduce actions that, while they were in process in the past, were interrupted by another specific one, and to introduce thoughts, emotions or beliefs in the past. It is also used in many cases to introduce age and time in the past, always accompanied by a relevant event or action. Let’s see examples.<\/p>

Cuando era ni\u00f1o, jugaba<\/strong> f\u00fatbol todos los d\u00edas. (When I was a child, I played soccer every day).<\/p>

Mi abuela cocinaba<\/strong> empanadas cada domingo. (My grandmother cooked empanadas every Sunday).<\/p>

\u00cdbamos<\/strong> a la playa todos los veranos. (We went to the beach every summer).<\/p>

Ella estudiaba<\/strong> franc\u00e9s por las tardes. (She studied French in the afternoons).<\/p>

In these examples we see habitual actions in the past.<\/p>

La casa era<\/strong> muy grande y ten\u00eda<\/strong> un jard\u00edn hermoso. (The house was very big and had a beautiful garden).<\/p>

Mar\u00eda llevaba<\/strong> un vestido azul y estaba<\/strong> muy elegante. (Mar\u00eda was wearing a blue dress and was very elegant).<\/p>

Hac\u00eda<\/strong> mucho calor esa tarde de verano. (It was very hot that summer afternoon).<\/p>

El pueblo era<\/strong> peque\u00f1o y tranquilo. (The town was small and quiet).<\/p>

In these, descriptions of places, people, weather.<\/p>

Mientras estudiaba<\/strong>, son\u00f3 el tel\u00e9fono. (While I was studying, the phone rang).<\/p>

Camin\u00e1bamos<\/strong> por el parque cuando empez\u00f3 a llover. (We were walking in the park when it started to rain).<\/p>

\u00bfQu\u00e9 hac\u00edas<\/strong> ayer a las tres de la tarde? (What were you doing yesterday at three in the afternoon?).<\/p>

Ve\u00eda<\/strong> televisi\u00f3n cuando llegaste. (I was watching television when you arrived).<\/p>

In these examples, specific actions that interrupted an action in development, that is, that began while the other action was developing.<\/p>

Pensaba<\/strong> que no vendr\u00edas. (I thought you wouldn’t come).<\/p>

Cre\u00eda<\/strong> que la reuni\u00f3n era ma\u00f1ana. (I believed the meeting was tomorrow).<\/p>

Quer\u00eda<\/strong> comprarte un regalo. (I wanted to buy you a gift).<\/p>

Sab\u00eda<\/strong> que algo malo iba a pasar. (I knew something bad was going to happen).<\/p>

Here we see examples of using this verb tense to express beliefs or thoughts in the past.<\/p>

Cuando ten\u00eda<\/strong> veinte a\u00f1os, yo viv\u00eda en Madrid. (When I was twenty years old, I lived in Madrid).<\/p>

Mi hijo ten\u00eda<\/strong> cinco a\u00f1os cuando aprendi\u00f3 a nadar. (My son was five years old when he learned to swim).<\/p>

Eran<\/strong> las dos de la tarde cuando llegamos. (It was two in the afternoon when we arrived).<\/p>

Era<\/strong> muy tarde cuando termin\u00e9 el trabajo. (It was very late when I finished work).<\/p>

And in these last examples we introduce age and time and events or actions relevant to that age or that time, without the completion of what is expressed in the imperfect tense being relevant from a communicative point of view.<\/p>

Imperfect tense of courtesy.<\/strong><\/p>

The Spanish language is a language of closeness, so courtesy formulas are used less than in other languages. Because courtesy maintains distance, and Spanish speakers try to shorten the distance with the interlocutor. So, while the use of normal courtesy formulas from other languages is less frequent, which would seem like overly courteous<\/em> forms in Spanish, we do use the imperfect tense to soften requests. Thus, if we are in a caf\u00e9 and we want a coffee, we could say dame un caf\u00e9<\/em> (give me a coffee) in imperative, \u00bfme das un caf\u00e9, por favor?<\/em> (can you give me a coffee, please?) or yo quer\u00eda un caf\u00e9<\/em> (I wanted a coffee). And no, in this case we are not saying that yesterday we wanted to drink coffee, we are politely asking for that coffee we want now. This form is widely used, especially when dealing with strangers and we have to ask them for something.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Regular conjugation of the pret\u00e9rito imperfecto.<\/h6>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The regular conjugation in pret\u00e9rito imperfecto is formed with the verb stem plus regular endings according to the group to which the verb belongs. The verb stem is obtained by eliminating the infinitive ending: hablar (to speak) = habl, comer (to eat) = com, vivir (to live) = viv. As in the case of the pret\u00e9rito indefinido, the regular endings for verbs ending in -ER and -IR are the same.<\/p>

Verbs ending in -AR (example: hablar (to speak)):<\/strong><\/p>

Yo -aba <\/b>\u2013> Yo hablaba<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa -abas \u2013><\/b>T\u00fa hablabas<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted -aba <\/b>\u2013> \u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted hablaba<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/as -\u00e1bamos <\/b>\u2013> Nosotros\/as habl\u00e1bamos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/as -abais <\/b>\u2013> Vosotros\/as hablabais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes -aban <\/b>\u2013> Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes hablaban<\/b><\/p>

Verbs ending in -ER and -IR: verbs ending in -ER and -IR have the same endings in pret\u00e9rito imperfecto.<\/p>

Yo -\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa -\u00edas<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted -\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/as -\u00edamos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/as -\u00edais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes -\u00edan<\/b><\/p>

Comer: <\/b><\/p>

Yo com\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa com\u00edas<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted com\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/as com\u00edamos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/as com\u00edais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes com\u00edan<\/b><\/p>

Vivir:<\/b><\/p>

Yo viv\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa viv\u00edas<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted viv\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/as viv\u00edamos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/as viv\u00edais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes viv\u00edan<\/b><\/p>

Irregular verbs in pret\u00e9rito imperfecto.<\/b><\/p>

Good news! There are three irregular verbs in imperfect tense, namely, ser (to be), ir (to go) and ver (to see).<\/p>

Ser:<\/b><\/p>

Yo era<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa eras<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted era<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/Nosotras \u00e9ramos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/Vosotras erais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes eran<\/b><\/p>

Ir:<\/b><\/p>

Yo iba<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa ibas<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted iba<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/Nosotras \u00edbamos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/Vosotras ibais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes iban<\/b><\/p>

Ver:<\/b><\/p>

Yo ve\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

T\u00fa ve\u00edas<\/b><\/p>

\u00c9l\/Ella\/Usted ve\u00eda<\/b><\/p>

Nosotros\/Nosotras ve\u00edamos<\/b><\/p>

Vosotros\/Vosotras ve\u00edais<\/b><\/p>

Ellos\/Ellas\/Ustedes ve\u00edan<\/b><\/p>

Time markers with the imperfect tense:<\/strong> certain time markers accompany this verb tense. In general they are those referring to routine, to repetitive actions, or to more unspecific moments in the past than those that accompany perfect tenses.<\/p>

Antes<\/strong> (Before): Antes viv\u00eda en Argentina. (I used to live in Argentina before).<\/p>

Cuando era ni\u00f1o\/joven<\/strong> (When I was a child\/young): Cuando era joven, viajaba mucho. (When I was young, I traveled a lot).<\/p>

En aquella \u00e9poca<\/strong> (In that time): En aquella \u00e9poca no hab\u00eda internet. (In that time there was no internet).<\/p>

Todos los d\u00edas\/semanas\/a\u00f1os<\/strong> (Every day\/week\/year): Todos los d\u00edas desayunaba caf\u00e9. (Every day I had coffee for breakfast).<\/p>

Siempre<\/strong> (Always): Siempre llegaba tarde al trabajo. (I always arrived late to work).<\/p>

Frecuentemente<\/strong> (Frequently): Frecuentemente visitaba a mis abuelos. (I frequently visited my grandparents).<\/p>

A menudo<\/strong> (Often): A menudo \u00edbamos al cine. (We often went to the movies.).<\/p>

De peque\u00f1o\/a<\/strong> (As a child): De peque\u00f1a me gustaba mucho leer. (As a child I really liked to read).<\/p>

En el pasado<\/strong> (In the past): En el pasado las cosas eran diferentes. (In the past things were different).<\/p>

One of the easiest ways to practice this verb tense is to make a description of childhood. Thus, I can say that cuando yo era<\/em> ni\u00f1o viv\u00eda<\/em> en una peque\u00f1a ciudad al noroeste de Uruguay. De ma\u00f1ana iba<\/em> a la escuela, a mediod\u00eda volv\u00eda<\/em> a mi casa, almorzaba<\/em> y luego hac\u00eda<\/em> los deberes. De tarde jugaba<\/em> con mis amigos en la calle y, cuando anochec\u00eda<\/em>, volv\u00eda<\/em> a mi casa, me ba\u00f1aba<\/em>, cenaba<\/em> y me acostaba<\/em> temprano. (when I was a child I lived in a small city in northwest Uruguay. In the morning I went to school, at noon I returned home, had lunch and then did homework. In the afternoon I played with my friends in the street and, when it got dark, I returned home, bathed, had dinner and went to bed early.)<\/p>

We have reached the end of this article. I know that the distinction between some Spanish verb tenses can be complex, but with practice it is achieved. I hope these lines have been useful to you, here<\/strong> <\/a>I leave you exercises to practice this topic and, as always, thanks for reading!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t<\/path><\/svg>Prev<\/span><\/span>Anterior<\/span>Ayer aprend\u00ed muchas palabras nuevas: the pret\u00e9rito indefinido tense<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tSiguiente<\/span>Haberlo aprendido fue muy \u00fatil: uses of the verb haber<\/span><\/span><\/path><\/svg>Next<\/span><\/span><\/a>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cuando era ni\u00f1o me gustaba ir al circo: the pret\u00e9rito imperfecto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[144],"tags":[158],"class_list":["post-19527","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grammar","tag-feed-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19527"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19564,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19527\/revisions\/19564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/conexionsp.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}