Past imperfect tense conjugation in the indicative mood

In this post, you will find a detailed explanation of imperfect preterite tense verb conjugation in Spanish for the indicative mood. For a general explanation on Spanish verb conjugation, check out our main conjugation article.

Duration in the past

The imperfect preterite tense indicates a past action that is not shown as finished. Yet, this action coincides with another past action. That’s why this is a relative tense.

Here is an example: Cuando llegaste, llovía. This sentence translates to something like: When you came, it was raining. The verb llegaste (came) implies a past sense of the verb llegar (to come). And that action coincides with the verb llovía (it rained). Both actions occurred in the past, but it is not precise on whether it has stopped raining. Hence, it is an imperfect tense.

This tense is regularly used in literary descriptions because it expresses a certain persistence or duration in the past. Let’s go for another example, a bit more complex: Apareció un niño que cantaba. A good translation for this sentence would be: A singing boy appeared. Although a literal translation would be something like: A boy appeared, who was singing. This isn’t syntactically correct in English, yet it captures the temporal complexity of the statement in Spanish. The verb apareció (appeared) is in the past tense and it implies some sort of fleeting moment. The verb cantaba (was singing) is not completely determined. You can ‘t be sure for how long the boy sang. So this verb implies a certain permanence, while still in the past tense.

Appearance of absolute time

The imperfect preterite can also appear as an absolute expression of time. In this sentence: yo tenía un amigo (I had a friend), the verb tenía (had) refers to a friend from the past, but it is an undetermined past. It is different from the past perfect verb tuve, which implies a precise moment in the past. The verb tenía appears to cover the whole of the past.

Another good example would be: los niños amaban los dulces. This phrase translates to: kids loved candy. But the verb amaban implies an extended persistence in the past. Different to amaron, which is the past perfect form and refers to something that happened in a precise moment in the past.

 

Past imperfect conjugation to show imperfect beginnings

As this tense is used to indicate past actions that have not been completed, it has a special use to express actions that have been tried or just begun. For example: ahora me marchaba. This phrase translates to: I was leaving or I was about to leave. The verb marchaba (leaving or walking away) is in the past tense but it is referring to an action that didn’t or hasn’t taken place.

 

Unreal past or hypothetical expressions

On the other hand, the imperfect tense expresses a continued action that doesn’t reach the present moment or doesn’t get fulfilled. For example: si tuviese dinero, te daba. This phrase literally translates to: If I had money, I gave you. The verb daba is the imperfect preterite of the verb dar (to give). In this example it expresses a past tense that is not real or hypothetical. We will see the conditional form in the potential simple form daría (would give), which would be used in the phrase: si tuviese dinero, te daría (a proper form of “if I had money, I would give you).

Another example of this is in the playful expression often used by kids: yo era el bueno y ustedes me atacaban. It translates to: I was the good guy and you attacked me. The verb atacaban, however, is not fully determined. It refers to a past action with an undetermined extension.

 

Past Imperfect as courteous hypotheticals

Related to the hypothetical form of the imperfect preterite, there is a common use in courteous expressions that imply some kind of wish. An example is: venía a verla. This phrase would translate to: I was coming to see her. But in this form, the verb venía implies the possibility of a negative. Instead of saying vengo a verla which means “I am here to see her”, the use of venía considers the uncertainty at the same time it manifests the will or intent of the action.

 

Further examples of the past imperfect tense conjugation

Now we will look into the imperfect preterite tense (pretérito imperfecto) conjugation table for the words we used as examples.

Llover (to rain)

• Singular
  • First person: llovía
  • Second person: llovías
  • Third person: llovía
• Plural
  • First person: llovíamos
  • Second person: lloviaís / llovían
  • Third person: llovían

Cantar (to sing)

• Singular
  • First person: yo cantaba
  • Second person*: tú cantabas (informal) / vos cantabas (informal) / usted cantaba (formal)
  • Third person: él cantaba (masculine) / ella cantaba (femenine)
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros cantábamos
  • Second person**: vosotros cantabais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras cantabais (fem.) / ustedes cantaban (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos cantaban (masc. and neutral) / ellas cantaban (fem.)

Tener (to have)

• Singular
  • First person: yo tenía
  • Second person*: tú tenías (informal) / vos tenías (informal) / usted tenía (formal)
  • Third person: él tenía (masc.) / ella tenía (fem.)
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros teníamos
  • Second person**: vosotros teníais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras teníais (fem.) / ustedes tenían (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos tenían (masc. and neutral) / ellas tenían (fem.)

Amar (to love)

• Singular
  • First person: yo amaba
  • Second person*: tú amabas (informal) / vos amabas (informal) / usted amaba (formal)
  • Third person: él amaba (masc.) / ella amaba (fem.)
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros amábamos
  • Second person**: vosotros amabais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras amabais (fem.) / ustedes amaban (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos amaban (masc. and neutral) / ellas amaban (fem.)

Marchar (to leave)

• Singular
  • First person: yo me marchaba
  • Second person*: tú te marchabas (informal) / vos te marchabas (informal) / usted se marchaba (formal)
  • Third person: él se marchaba / ella se marchaba
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros nos marchábamos
  • Second person**: vosotros os marchabais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras os marchabais (fem.) / ustedes se marchaban (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos se marchaban (masc. and neutral) / ellas se marchaban (fem.)

Dar (to give)

• Singular
  • First person: yo daba
  • Second person*: tú dabas (informal) / vos dabas (informal) / usted daba (formal)
  • Third person: él daba (masc.) / ella daba (fem.)
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros dábamos
  • Second person**: vosotros dabais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras dabais (fem.) / ustedes daban (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos daban (masc. and neutral) / ellas daban (fem.)

Atacar (to attack)

• Singular
  • First person: yo atacaba
  • Second person*: tú atacabas (informal) / vos atacabas (informal) / usted atacaba (formal)
  • Third person: él atacaba (masc.) / ella atacaba (fem.)
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros atacábamos
  • Second person**: vosotros atacabais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras atacabais (fem.) / ustedes atacaban (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos atacaban (masc. and neutral) / ellas atacaban (fem.)

Venir (to come)

• Singular
  • First person: yo venía
  • Second person*: tú venías (informal) / vos venías (informal) / usted venía (formal)
  • Third person: él venía (masc.) / ella venía (fem.)
• Plural
  • First person: nosotros veníamos
  • Second person**: vosotros veníais (masc. and neutral) / vosotras veníais (fem.) / ustedes venían (neutral)
  • Third person: ellos venían (masc. and neutral) / ellas venían (fem.)

* Remember that each country and culture considers some of these variables as formal or informal. You can find more on that in this post. The short version: Usted is the most respectful form, and we use it when talking to elders or in formal circumstances. The forms vos and tú are mostly considered informal, they tend to be the way to talk amongst friends or family. However, there are some exemptions. For example, in Argentina, vos is the standard use; and in Mexico it is common to use the tú form.

** The use of vosotros / vosotras is almost exclusively used in Spain. It is not common among Latin American countries and it’s considered snobbish or foreign. Most Latin American countries, if not all, use ustedes for the second person plural.

Note: Always consider that plural pronouns in Spanish are gendered. The common rule is to use the masculine form if the gender of the subjects in a group is either mixed or unknown.

PRO TIP

One of the best resources to check the proper form of a verb according to each tense is the Diccionario de la Real Academia Española. Just look for the word and click on the button that says CONJUGAR that will appear next to the word.

That will display the table for all the possible conjugations for that verb. Check it out here.

Learn more!

Go ahead to our Spanish Verb Conjugation article for more information. There you will find a general explanation on the variables, paradigmes and rules on verb conjugation. You will also find an Index Chart with links to detailed articles on specific tenses, such as this one.