Ver (to see) is the third of the three verbs classified as irregular in the imperfect. Its irregularity is subtle — it looks almost regular, but it keeps an -e- that a truly regular verb would drop.
Conjugation of ver
The forms are veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veían. Every form has a written accent on the í, exactly as with a normal -er/-ir imperfect.
| Subject | Form |
|---|---|
| yo | veía |
| tú | veías |
| él / ella / usted | veía |
| nosotros | veíamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | veían |
Why "technically" irregular?
Here is the subtlety: when you strip the ending from ver, you get the stem v-. A strictly regular -er imperfect would then give vía, vías, and so on. But ver historically came from an older form veer, and Spanish preserves the -e- in the imperfect stem, producing veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veían.
So ver is irregular not because its endings are odd, but because the stem keeps an extra e. Once you know that, the paradigm is easy.
Everyday use: watching and seeing
Veía is the go-to way to talk about what someone used to see or used to watch — TV shows, films, scenery, people on the street.
De niña, veía dibujos animados todos los sábados por la mañana.
As a girl, I used to watch cartoons every Saturday morning.
Desde mi ventana veíamos las montañas cubiertas de nieve.
From my window we used to see the snow-covered mountains.
Mis papás veían las noticias mientras cenaban.
My parents used to watch the news while they ate dinner.
Meeting and hanging out
In Spanish, ver a alguien often means to meet with or to hang out with someone. In the imperfect, it describes regular social routines.
Veía a mis amigos casi todos los fines de semana.
I used to see my friends almost every weekend.
Antes nos veíamos más seguido, pero ahora todos estamos muy ocupados.
We used to see each other more often, but now we are all very busy.
Background perception
Because the imperfect is the tense of background and ongoing action, veía often describes what someone was perceiving while something else happened.
Veía llover por la ventana cuando sonó el teléfono.
I was watching the rain fall through the window when the phone rang.
Comparison with regular -er verbs
Compare ver side by side with a truly regular -er verb, comer, to see how close they are. The only difference is the extra e in the stem.
| Subject | comer | ver |
|---|---|---|
| yo | comía | veía |
| tú | comías | veías |
| él / ella / usted | comía | veía |
| nosotros | comíamos | veíamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | comían | veían |
Ver versus mirar
A quick reminder: Spanish distinguishes ver (to see, general perception) from mirar (to look at, directed attention). Mirar is perfectly regular in the imperfect — miraba, mirabas, miraba, mirábamos, miraban. Use whichever verb fits the meaning you want.
In narration, ver is especially common for talking about what someone used to watch or used to come across, while mirar emphasizes an intentional act of looking.
Miraba por la ventana mientras veía pasar los coches.
I was looking out the window while I was seeing the cars go by.
Common mistakes
❌ Yo vía dibujos animados los sábados.
Wrong: ver keeps the extra e in the imperfect stem.
✅ Yo veía dibujos animados los sábados.
Correct: veía — the stem is ve-, not v-.
❌ Nosotros víamos las montañas desde la ventana.
Wrong: the nosotros form is veíamos, not víamos.
✅ Nosotros veíamos las montañas desde la ventana.
Correct: veíamos with the full ve- stem.
❌ De niño, yo miraba la televisión. / De niño, yo veía la televisión.
Both are grammatical — but remember mirar means to look at intentionally, ver means to see/watch.
✅ De niño, veía la tele. Miraba por la ventana.
Correct: veía for watching, miraba for looking at.
With the three irregulars — ser, ir, and ver — behind you, the rest of the imperfect is all about usage. Continue to habitual actions to see when to reach for this tense.
Related Topics
- Ser in the ImperfectA2 — Conjugation and use of the irregular verb ser in the imperfect tense — era, eras, era, éramos, eran.
- Ir in the ImperfectA2 — Conjugation and use of the irregular verb ir in the imperfect tense — iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, iban.
- Regular -er and -ir VerbsA2 — Forming the imperfect tense of regular -er and -ir verbs, which share a single set of endings.