If the imperfect's first job is habitual actions, its second job is description. Whenever you want to paint a picture of how things were in the past — how someone looked, how a place felt, what the weather was like, how people were feeling — you reach for the imperfect.
Setting the scene
Spanish narration works like a film. The imperfect is the backdrop: the lighting, the weather, the mood, the characters' appearances. The preterite is the camera: it captures specific events that move the story forward. Learn to separate them, and your Spanish will suddenly sound much more natural.
Era una noche oscura. Hacía frío y no había nadie en la calle.
It was a dark night. It was cold and there was nobody in the street.
Every verb here is imperfect — none of them describe an event, only the setting.
Describing people
The imperfect describes how people were over a stretch of time — their appearance, personality, age, health.
Mi abuela era bajita, tenía el pelo blanco y sonreía siempre.
My grandmother was short, had white hair, and always smiled.
Describing places
Places get the same treatment: the imperfect tells you what something looked or felt like.
La casa era grande, tenía un jardín con muchos árboles frutales y quedaba cerca del río.
The house was big, had a garden with many fruit trees, and was near the river.
Emotions and mental states
Feelings are classic imperfect territory. Being sad, happy, nervous, or scared is not a one-time event — it is a state that unfolds over time.
| Spanish | English |
|---|---|
| estaba triste | I was sad |
| estábamos felices | we were happy |
| tenía miedo | I was afraid |
| quería ir | I wanted to go |
| sabía la respuesta | I knew the answer |
Estaba muy nerviosa antes del examen, pero al final salió todo bien.
I was very nervous before the exam, but in the end everything went well.
Mi hermano tenía miedo de los perros cuando era pequeño.
My brother was afraid of dogs when he was little.
Weather
The weather is almost always imperfect when telling a story in the past. Saying hizo frío is grammatical but frames the cold as an event; hacía frío simply describes the conditions.
Llovía toda la mañana y el cielo estaba gris.
It was raining all morning and the sky was gray.
Hacía tanto calor que nadie quería salir de la casa.
It was so hot that nobody wanted to leave the house.
Pairing with the preterite
The real power of the imperfect appears when it is combined with the preterite. The imperfect paints the background; the preterite drops in events.
Eran las diez de la noche, llovía mucho y yo leía un libro cuando alguien tocó la puerta.
It was ten at night, it was raining hard, and I was reading a book when someone knocked at the door.
Four imperfects (eran, llovía, leía, implicit background) and one preterite (tocó). The preterite is the moment the plot moves; everything else is context.
Common description verbs
A short list of verbs that are overwhelmingly used in the imperfect when describing the past:
| Verb | Typical imperfect |
|---|---|
| ser | era / eran |
| estar | estaba / estaban |
| tener | tenía / tenían |
| haber | había |
| parecer | parecía / parecían |
Common mistakes
❌ La casa fue grande y tuvo un jardín.
Wrong: descriptions of how things were need the imperfect.
✅ La casa era grande y tenía un jardín.
Correct: era and tenía (imperfect) for past descriptions.
❌ Estuvo triste antes del examen.
Wrong: emotions as background state need the imperfect.
✅ Estaba triste antes del examen.
Correct: estaba (imperfect) for an ongoing emotional state.
❌ Hubo niebla toda la mañana.
Wrong if describing background weather — use the imperfect.
✅ Había niebla toda la mañana.
Correct: había (imperfect) for scene-setting existence.
Next, look at three description categories that always use the imperfect: age, time, and weather.
Related Topics
- Usage: Habitual ActionsA2 — Using the imperfect tense to describe habitual, repeated actions in the past — the equivalent of English 'used to do' and 'would do'.
- Usage: Age, Time, WeatherA2 — Three categories where the imperfect is almost always the correct choice — age in the past, telling time, and describing weather.
- Ser in the ImperfectA2 — Conjugation and use of the irregular verb ser in the imperfect tense — era, eras, era, éramos, eran.