Imperfect Tense

Imperfect Tense

Do you understand how to conjugate into the present? How about the preterite? Are you sick of tenses with LOTS of irregulars? Then you are ready to have a blast with the IMPERFECT TENSE!

Why Imperfect?

The imperfect is another way to talk about the past.

So, why do we need another way?

Because Spanish sees a definite difference in past events.

Basics of Preterite vs. Imperfect

• So, let's pretend that you want to talk about ONE TIME that you exercised.

• You want to use the PRETERITE.

• And you might use key words, like a specific day.

• AYER, yo salté a la cuerda.

• (saltar is conjugated into the preterite tense)

Basics of Preterite vs. Imperfect

• But, what if you want to talk about how you exercised LOTS of times.

• Instead of saying "yesterday", we might indicate that it was "many times".

• Muchas veces, yo saltaba a la cuerda.

• (saltar is now in the imperfect)

But let's focus on the imperfect...

• That is a jump ahead. (no pun intended)

• Let's turn our focus back to how to form the imperfect.

• Bottom line: figure out your subject and conjugate like we always have.

• Notice that the "yo" form and the "he/she" form is the same.

IMPERFECT TENSE PRACTICE

For each of the next slides, determine the proper conjugation of the indicated verb based on the subject.

Multiple Choice

Marta y Lola _________ (limpiar) la sala.

• limpiaba

• limpiabas

• limpiábamos

• limpiaban

Multiple Choice

Yo no ________ (escribir) cartas de niño.

• escribía

• escribías

• escribíamos

• escribían

Multiple Choice

¿Tú _______ (pasear) por el parque?

• paseaba

• paseabas

• paseabámos

• paseaban

Multiple Choice

Carlota no ________ (leer) los libros muchas veces.

• leía

• leías

• leíamos

• leían

Multiple Choice

Samuel y yo _______ (vivir) al lado del gimnasio.

• vivía

• vivías

• vivíamos

• vivían

Multiple Choice

Pablo, ¿tú y tus amigos ________ (visitar) la escuela?

• visitaba

• visitabas

• visitabámos

• visitaban

Multiple Choice

Yo ________ (hacer) la tarea todos los días.

• hacía

• hacías

• hacíamos

• hacían

Multiple Choice

Las muchachas no ________ (tomar) el helado.

• tomaba

• tomabas

• tomábamos

• tomaban

Multiple Choice

Mi familia y yo _______ (contar) chistes siempre.

• contaba

• contabas

• contábamos

• contaban

Multiple Choice

Susana y Miguel _______ (pelearse) casi siempre.

• me peleaba

• te peleabas

• nos peleábamos

• se peleaban

Multiple Choice

¿Tú ________ (jugar) con carritos cuando tenías seis años?

• jugaba

• jugabas

• jugábamos

• jugaban