The imperfect (imperfecto or pretérito imperfecto) is the second-most-frequent past tense in peninsular Spanish, after the preterite, and the foundation of past description and narration. Where the preterite says "this happened and it's over," the imperfect says "this was the situation," "this used to happen," or "this was going on." The aspectual contrast it draws with the preterite is the single steepest grammatical cliff for English speakers — English collapses both into the simple past — but once internalized, it gives you a tool English does not have: the ability to mark, in a single verb form, whether a past action is being presented as bounded or as ongoing.
This page consolidates everything in one place: every form, every use, with peninsular-Spain features (vosotros, the imperfecto de cortesía, the narrative imperfect, the literary -ra pluperfect) highlighted throughout. For deep treatments of each use, follow the cross-links; this is a single-glance reference.
Forms
Regular -ar verbs
The endings: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Accent on -ábamos only. No accent on -abais despite ending in -ais — this is a peninsular-specific quirk of the imperfect (other tenses with -áis do carry the accent).
| hablar | trabajar | jugar |
|---|---|---|
| yo hablaba | yo trabajaba | yo jugaba |
| tú hablabas | tú trabajabas | tú jugabas |
| él/ella/usted hablaba | él/ella/usted trabajaba | él/ella/usted jugaba |
| nosotros hablábamos | nosotros trabajábamos | nosotros jugábamos |
| vosotros hablabais | vosotros trabajabais | vosotros jugabais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes hablaban | ellos/ellas/ustedes trabajaban | ellos/ellas/ustedes jugaban |
Notice that yo and él/ella/usted are identical (hablaba). Context resolves the person; speakers may include the pronoun when ambiguity bites. Stem-changing verbs do not stem-change in the imperfect — jugaba, not juegaba; quería (from querer), not queríea.
Regular -er and -ir verbs
The endings are shared: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Every form carries an accent on -í- — including -íais. This is the second peninsular quirk: -ais without an accent in -ar (vosotros hablabais), -íais with an accent in -er/-ir. Easy to confuse; easy to misspell.
| comer | vivir | tener |
|---|---|---|
| yo comía | yo vivía | yo tenía |
| tú comías | tú vivías | tú tenías |
| él/ella/usted comía | él/ella/usted vivía | él/ella/usted tenía |
| nosotros comíamos | nosotros vivíamos | nosotros teníamos |
| vosotros comíais | vosotros vivíais | vosotros teníais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes comían | ellos/ellas/ustedes vivían | ellos/ellas/ustedes tenían |
All other regular -er/-ir verbs follow this template exactly. Irregular present-tense verbs like tener, poner, poder, querer, decir, hacer, salir, venir, saber, traer, caer are all regular in the imperfect.
The three irregulars: ser, ir, ver
Spanish has only three irregular imperfects. Memorize them as a closed set — every other verb is regular.
| ser | ir | ver |
|---|---|---|
| yo era | yo iba | yo veía |
| tú eras | tú ibas | tú veías |
| él/ella/usted era | él/ella/usted iba | él/ella/usted veía |
| nosotros éramos | nosotros íbamos | nosotros veíamos |
| vosotros erais | vosotros ibais | vosotros veíais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes eran | ellos/ellas/ustedes iban | ellos/ellas/ustedes veían |
Notes on the irregulars:
- ser: stress falls on the first syllable of éramos (with accent); erais has no accent and stresses e-rais.
- ir: stress falls on the first syllable of íbamos (with accent); ibais has no accent.
- ver: keeps an extra -e- that regular -er would have dropped. The infinitive is ver but the imperfect stem behaves as if it were vee-. Every form carries the accent on -í- including veíais.
A handful of irregular verbs you might expect to be in this list — haber, hacer, decir, poder — are not. Their imperfect is regular: había, hacía, decía, podía.
Cuando vosotros erais pequeños, ibais al colegio andando, ¿no?
When you (all) were little, you used to walk to school, didn't you?
Veíamos la tele juntos todas las noches después de cenar.
We used to watch TV together every night after dinner.
Uses: the full inventory
The imperfect has six core uses in modern peninsular Spanish, plus two stylistically marked ones (narrative imperfect and the literary -ra pluperfect). Each is covered in detail on its own page; here is the consolidated map.
1. Habitual past actions
Repeated past events, routines, ways things used to be. English equivalents: "used to," habitual "would." Trigger words: siempre, nunca, todos los días, los lunes, normalmente, de pequeño, antes, en aquella época. Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/usage-habitual.
De pequeño, iba al cole en bici y volvía a casa para comer.
As a kid, I used to ride my bike to school and come home for lunch.
Los domingos comíamos en casa de los abuelos, sin falta.
On Sundays we always had lunch at my grandparents' house, without fail.
2. Ongoing past actions (the past in progress)
Actions in progress at a past moment. English equivalent: past progressive ("was/were ___ing"). Often appears alongside a preterite that interrupts. Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/usage-ongoing.
Estudiaba en mi habitación cuando sonó el timbre.
I was studying in my room when the doorbell rang.
Llovía a cántaros y la gente corría a refugiarse en los portales.
It was raining cats and dogs and people were running to take shelter in the doorways.
The progressive estar + gerundio (estaba estudiando) is also available and emphasizes the in-progress nature. Both are common in Spain; the simple imperfect is the default in narration, the progressive when you want extra emphasis.
3. Descriptions and background
Physical descriptions, emotional states, settings, ongoing conditions in the past. The imperfect paints the scene; the preterite then advances the plot. Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/usage-descriptions.
La casa era pequeña pero tenía una vista preciosa al mar.
The house was small but it had a beautiful sea view.
Era una noche fría de noviembre. El viento soplaba con fuerza y no había nadie en la calle.
It was a cold November night. The wind was blowing hard and there was nobody on the street.
4. Age, time of day, and weather
A grammatical convention rather than a logical rule: in past contexts, age, clock time, and weather default to the imperfect, regardless of whether the situation is conceptually bounded. Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/usage-age-time-weather.
Tenía cinco años cuando empezó el colegio.
He was five years old when he started school.
Eran las tres de la madrugada cuando me llamaron del hospital.
It was three in the morning when they called me from the hospital.
Hacía un calor insoportable aquel verano en Sevilla.
It was unbearably hot that summer in Seville.
5. Polite requests (imperfecto de cortesía)
A present-time use: the imperfect softens a current request by giving it the air of something already in motion. The default polite form in spoken Spain. Quería, podía, venía, llamaba, buscaba, necesitaba. Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/usage-politeness.
Hola, quería medio kilo de jamón ibérico, por favor.
Hi, I'd like half a kilo of Iberian ham, please. (at the deli, polite present)
Perdone, ¿podía abrir un poco la ventana?
Excuse me, could you open the window a little? (polite present)
6. Future-in-the-past (planned but possibly unfulfilled)
The imperfect of ir a + infinitive expresses a past intention or plan, often one that didn't pan out. Iba a llamarte pero se me olvidó.
Iba a llamarte pero al final me quedé dormido en el sofá.
I was going to call you but I ended up falling asleep on the sofa.
Pensaba que llegaba el tren a las seis, pero llegó a las siete.
I thought the train was arriving at six, but it arrived at seven. (a planned/expected schedule that didn't hold)
The same construction with a present main verb (pienso que llega a las seis) would describe a future event from the present's vantage; with the imperfect, it describes a past expectation that may or may not have been correct.
7. The narrative imperfect (stylistic, journalism and literature)
A use where the imperfect substitutes for the preterite to lend a punctual completed event a cinematic, scene-like quality. Almost always with an explicit time anchor. Tres meses después, moría Franco. Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/narrative-imperfect.
Aquella tarde de julio, las tropas franquistas entraban en Madrid y ponían fin a la guerra.
That July afternoon, the Francoist troops entered Madrid and brought the war to an end. (journalistic narrative imperfect — for *entraban*/*ponían*, read *entraron*/*pusieron*)
For C1+ learners: recognize freely, produce sparingly. This is a literary device, not an everyday tense.
8. The literary -ra form as pluscuamperfecto indicativo
A vestigial Latin construction: the -ra form (which today is the imperfect subjunctive) used as a pluperfect indicative in elevated literary or journalistic prose. El presidente que pronunciara el discurso... = El presidente que había pronunciado el discurso... Full treatment: verbs/imperfect/ra-as-pluperfect.
Volvió al pueblo donde naciera su madre y donde transcurriera su infancia.
He returned to the village where his mother had been born and where his childhood had unfolded. (literary; *naciera* = había nacido)
C2 recognition only.
The peninsular twist: hodiernal habits stay imperfect
Spain's signature past-tense feature is the use of the present perfect (he comido) for events that happened today — the "hodiernal" present perfect. This applies only to bounded events, not to habits. Even a habit that fell within today stays in the imperfect:
Esta semana iba a clase todos los días, pero hoy no he ido porque estoy malo.
This week I was going to class every day, but today I didn't go because I'm ill. (*iba* = habit-within-this-week, imperfect; *he ido* = single bounded event today, present perfect)
This means peninsular narratives often weave three past tenses together — preterite (events on prior days), present perfect (bounded events today), imperfect (habits and descriptions across both timeframes). The imperfect is the connective tissue.
Quick comparison: imperfect vs preterite vs present perfect
| Tense | Frames as | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Imperfecto (comía) | Ongoing, habitual, descriptive, scene | Comía a las tres todos los días. / Comía paella cuando llamó mi madre. |
| Pretérito (comí) | Bounded, completed, before today | Ayer comí paella. / En 2015 comí en El Bulli. |
| Pretérito perfecto (he comido) | Bounded, completed, today (Spain) or with present relevance | Hoy he comido paella. / Esta mañana he comido en casa. |
The full contrast is treated in verbs/preterite-vs-imperfect/overview and choosing/preterite-vs-present-perfect.
Vosotros and the peninsular imperfect
Because the imperfect dominates past-habit conversation — reminiscing with friends, swapping childhood memories — the vosotros imperfect endings (-abais, -íais, ibais, erais, veíais) are extremely frequent in informal peninsular speech. Mastering them is non-negotiable for conversational competence in Spain.
Cuando erais pequeños, ¿ibais a la playa todos los veranos?
When you (all) were little, did you (all) go to the beach every summer?
¿Vosotros también jugabais al pilla-pilla en el patio del cole?
Did you (all) also play tag in the schoolyard?
Antes vivíais en Móstoles, ¿no? ¿Cómo era el barrio?
You (all) used to live in Móstoles, right? What was the neighbourhood like?
In Latin America, ustedes replaces vosotros and the corresponding endings become -aban, -ían, iban, eran, veían — identical to the third-person plural. In Spain, the vosotros form remains distinct.
Spelling pitfalls
The imperfect carries one of the highest accent-mark error rates among Spanish tenses, because the accent rules vary across the regular endings.
- -ar verbs: only -ábamos takes an accent. Hablabais has no accent, despite ending in -ais. Common errors: ✗ hablábais, ✗ hablabamos.
- -er/-ir verbs: every form takes an accent on -í-, including -íais. Common errors: ✗ comia, ✗ vivian, ✗ vivias.
- ser: only éramos takes an accent. Erais has no accent. Common error: ✗ éran.
- ir: only íbamos takes an accent. Ibais has no accent. Common errors: ✗ ivamos, ✗ ibáis.
- ver: every form takes an accent on -í- including veíais. Common error: ✗ via (should be veía).
A working rule: imperfect -er/-ir forms always have an accent; imperfect -ar forms have one only in nosotros.
Common mistakes
❌ Cuando era pequeño, jugué al fútbol todos los días.
Wrong — a daily habit needs imperfect (*jugaba*), not preterite. The trigger *todos los días* gives it away.
✅ Cuando era pequeño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días.
Correct — habitual past with the imperfect.
❌ Hablábais inglés cuando vivíais en Londres, ¿no?
Wrong — *hablabais* takes no accent (the *-ar* imperfect *vosotros* form is unaccented). The *-ir* form *vivíais* is correctly accented.
✅ Hablabais inglés cuando vivíais en Londres, ¿no?
Correct — 'You (all) used to speak English when you lived in London, right?'
❌ Quiero un café con leche y un cruasán.
Wrong only by register — grammatical, but unidiomatic and slightly blunt at a Spanish café. The polite norm is the imperfect *quería*.
✅ Quería un café con leche y un cruasán.
Correct — polite imperfect for the everyday request: 'I'd like a white coffee and a croissant.'
❌ Mi padre se levantaría a las seis para ir a trabajar.
Wrong — *se levantaría* is conditional ('he would get up if...'). English habitual 'would' = Spanish imperfect, not conditional.
✅ Mi padre se levantaba a las seis para ir a trabajar.
Correct — 'My dad would get up at six to go to work,' habitual past.
❌ La casa fue grande y tuvo una vista al mar.
Wrong — physical description of a past setting is imperfect territory. The preterite *fue/tuvo* makes it sound like a closed report of two completed events.
✅ La casa era grande y tenía una vista al mar.
Correct — descriptive imperfect: 'The house was big and had a sea view.'
Key takeaways
- The imperfect's six everyday uses are: habitual past, ongoing past, descriptions, age/time/weather, polite present requests, and future-in-the-past.
- Two stylistically marked uses — the narrative imperfect (journalism/literature) and the -ra pluperfect (literary/elevated) — exist for recognition.
- Only three verbs are irregular: ser, ir, ver. Everything else is regular.
- Peninsular vosotros forms (-abais, -íais, ibais, erais, veíais) are essential in conversation.
- Accents: -ar only on -ábamos; -er/-ir on every form (-ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían).
- The imperfect is the connective tissue of past narrative in Spain — it carries descriptions and habits while preterite (or, for today, present perfect) advances the events.
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- Imperfecto: verbos regulares en -arA2 — The regular -ar imperfect — endings -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban — with the obligatory accent on nosotros, the unaccented peninsular vosotros form, and the meanings (habitual, background, ongoing) that this tense carries in Spain.
- Imperfecto: verbos regulares en -er e -irA2 — The regular -er and -ir imperfect — endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían, with the obligatory accent on every form, including the peninsular vosotros comíais and vivíais.
- Pretérito vs imperfecto: visión generalA2 — The cardinal aspectual contrast in Spanish past tenses: the preterite frames events as bounded and completed, the imperfect frames them as ongoing, habitual, or descriptive. One of the steepest cliffs for English speakers, because English collapses both into the simple past.
- Imperfecto para acciones habitualesA2 — The imperfect's bread-and-butter use: things you used to do in the past, things you would do on a regular basis, patterns and routines that repeated themselves. If English would say 'used to' or habitual 'would', Spanish uses the imperfect.
- Imperfecto de cortesía: quería, podíaB1 — Spaniards routinely use the imperfect — quería, podía, venía — to soften present-moment requests in shops, cafés, offices, and any situation calling for polite distance. It is not a past tense at all in this use; it is the default polite present in Spain.
- Imperfecto narrativo en literatura y periodismoC1 — A stylistic use of the imperfect where the preterite would be logically expected — frequent in Spanish newspaper feature writing and literary prose. The event is bounded and completed, but the imperfect frames it as a vivid scene rather than a closed fact.