Spanish 2 unit 5 grammer reivew

What is 'El Imperfecto'?

The imperfect tense in Spanish is used to describe past actions, conditions, or events that were ongoing, habitual, or not completed. It provides setting, background, and descriptions in past narratives, answering 'what was happening' rather than 'what happened'.

How does the imperfect tense translate to English?

It translates to 'was/were -ing' (e.g., 'I was walking') or 'used to' (e.g., 'I used to walk').

How do you conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect tense?

For -ar verbs, remove the -ar ending and add the following endings. Remember that for 'nosotros/nosotras', 'tú', and 'vosotros/vosotras', the stress mark is over the 'a'.

• yo: -aba
• tú: -abas
• él/ella/usted: -aba
• nosotros/nosotras: -ábamos
• vosotros/vosotras: -abais
• ellos/ellas/ustedes: -aban

Example: Hablar (to speak) → yo hablaba, tú hablabas, él hablaba, nosotros hablábamos, vosotros hablabais, ellos hablaban.

How do you conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect tense?

For -er and -ir verbs, remove their respective endings and add the following endings. Note that all forms have a stress mark over the 'i'.

• yo: -ía
• tú: -ías
• él/ella/usted: -ía
• nosotros/nosotras: -íamos
• vosotros/vosotras: -íais
• ellos/ellas/ustedes: -ían

Example: Comer (to eat) → yo comía, tú comías, él comía, nosotros comíamos, vosotros comíais, ellos comían
Example: Vivir (to live) → yo vivía, tú vivías, él vivía, nosotros vivíamos, vosotros vivíais, ellos vivían.

How many irregular verbs are there in the imperfect tense?

There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect: 'ir' (to go), 'ser' (to be), and 'ver' (to see).

Conjugate 'ir' (to go) in the imperfect tense.

iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban

Conjugate 'ser' (to be) in the imperfect tense.

era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran

Conjugate 'ver' (to see) in the imperfect tense.

veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían

When do you use the imperfect tense? (Rule 1)

To express habitual or repeated actions in the past, similar to 'used to' or 'would' in English. It emphasizes the routine nature of the action.

(e.g., 'Todos los días, yo comía fruta.' - 'Every day, I used to eat fruit.')