Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense describes ongoing, habitual, or background actions in the past. It sets scenes, tells time, and expresses repeated behaviors.

Usage

Use the imperfect for actions that were continuing, habitual, or descriptive rather than completed. It also conveys mental, physical, and emotional states in the past.

Key Expressions

Key expressions often appear with the imperfect to signal habitual or ongoing past actions. These signal phrases help distinguish when to use the imperfect versus the preterite.

Spanish Example	English Translation
☀️ Cuando era niño, siempre jugaba en la playa por la tarde.	When I was a child, I always played on the beach in the afternoon.
🌅 Cada verano, veíamos la puesta de sol desde la colina.	Every summer, we watched the sunset from the hill.
🏖️ Mientras mis padres leían, yo construía castillos de arena.	While my parents read, I built sandcastles.
🌴 Siempre había música y risas en la playa al atardecer.	There was always music and laughter on the beach at sunset.
⛵ Por las tardes, navegábamos en vela cuando el viento era suave.	In the afternoons, we went sailing when the wind was gentle.

Formation

The imperfect endings are regular and consistent for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs, making the tense fairly straightforward to learn for narrating background and repeated past actions.

-ar Verbs

Spanish Example	English Translation
🏄 Yo siempre jugaba en la arena cuando llegaba la marea.	I always played on the sand when the tide came in.
🌊 Tú escuchabas las olas mientras caminabas por la orilla.	You listened to the waves while walking along the shore.
🌞 Ella jugaba con la luz dorada del atardecer en la arena.	She played with the golden light of the sunset on the sand.
🌴 Nosotros jugábamos entre las palmeras al caer la tarde.	We played among the palm trees at dusk.
🐚 Vosotros siempre jugabais a encontrar conchas al atardecer.	You all always played at finding shells at sunset.
🌅 Ellos jugaban a las sombras que el sol poniente proyectaba.	They played with the shadows the setting sun cast.

-er Verbs

Spanish Example	English Translation
🍹 Yo bebía limonada mientras veía el barco en el horizonte.	I drank lemonade while watching the ship on the horizon.
🔥 Tú veías la fogata que se encendía con la brisa marina.	You watched the bonfire that lit up with the sea breeze.
🌾 Ella bebía el aire salado y veía las gaviotas volar al atardecer.	She breathed the salty air and watched seagulls fly at sunset.
🏖️ Nosotros veíamos las luces de la playa mientras bebíamos té frío.	We watched the beach lights while drinking cold tea.
⛱️ Vosotros bebíais agua de coco y veíais las sombrillas coloridas.	You all drank coconut water and saw the colorful umbrellas.
🚤 Ellos veían el barco rápido mientras bebían jugo de naranja.	They watched the speedboat while drinking orange juice.

-ir Verbs

Spanish Example	English Translation
🏊 Yo vivía cada tarde en el juego de las olas del atardecer.	I lived every afternoon in the game of the sunset waves.
🌬️ Tú recibías la brisa y veías el cielo teñirse de naranja.	You felt the breeze and saw the sky turn orange.
🔦 Ella abría los ojos para ver las luces que nacían en la arena.	She opened her eyes to see the lights that appeared on the sand.
🌙 Nosotros vivíamos el tiempo lento cuando la marea brillaba.	We lived the slow time when the tide shone.
🌟 Vosotros recibíais estrellas fugaces mientras caminabais por la playa.	You all saw shooting stars while walking on the beach.
🌊 Ellos abrían caminos de agua al atardecer en sus juegos.	They made paths of water at sunset in their games.

Irregulars

There are just three commonly cited imperfect irregulars to memorize: ir, ser, and ver. Each follows a predictable pattern.

ir

Spanish Example	English Translation
🌅 Iba a la orilla cada tarde para ver el sol caer.	I went to the shore every afternoon to watch the sun set.
🌊 Ibas caminando junto a las olas que brillaban.	You went walking beside the waves that glistened.
🏖️ Ella iba al faro cuando el cielo se teñía de colores.	She went to the lighthouse when the sky was colored.
🌴 Íbamos a la laguna para jugar al atardecer.	We went to the lagoon to play at sunset.
🚶 Iban caminando por la playa con las luces doradas.	They went walking on the beach with the golden lights.

ser

Spanish Example	English Translation
🌇 La playa era mágica cuando el sol empezaba a esconderse.	The beach was magical when the sun began to hide.
🌠 El cielo era un lienzo de colores que todos miraban.	The sky was a canvas of colors that everyone watched.
🐦 El ambiente era tranquilo y lleno de voces suaves.	The atmosphere was calm and full of soft voices.
🏝️ El lugar era especial por la luz que caía sobre las olas.	The place was special because of the light falling on the waves.
🌬️ El tiempo era lento y lleno de momentos brillantes.	The time was slow and full of bright moments.

ver

Spanish Example	English Translation
👀 Veía las luces encenderse en la costa mientras jugaba en la arena.	I saw the lights turn on along the coast while I played in the sand.
🌟 Veías estrellas que comenzaban a brillar sobre el mar.	You saw stars starting to shine over the sea.
🏮 Ella veía faroles que colgaban de las palmeras al atardecer.	She saw lanterns hanging from the palm trees at sunset.
🌊 Veíamos reflejos dorados en las olas cuando caía el sol.	We saw golden reflections on the waves as the sun set.
🔦 Veían luces que guiaban barcos hacia la playa iluminada.	They saw lights guiding ships to the lit beach.

Summary

The imperfect describes ongoing, habitual, and background actions in the past. Key signal words and the regular endings make it teachable and useful for storytelling.

Last updated: Sun Sep 14, 2025