Now that you know how to conjugate -ar verbs in the imperfect tense, let's look at regular -er and -ir verbs. Luckily, both of these verb groups share the exact same endings in this tense!
| In adolescence, I used to live in the city. | En la adolescencia, yo vivía en la ciudad. |
Conjugating regular -er and -ir verbs
To conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect, drop the infinitive ending and add the following endings. Here is the verb vivir (to live):
| Pronoun | Imperfect ending | Example (vivir) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -ía | vivía |
| tú | -ías | vivías |
| él/ella/usted | -ía | vivía |
| nosotros/nosotras | -íamos | vivíamos |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | -ían | vivían |
Notice that every single form has a written accent mark on the í.
| We did not fear the strict teachers. | Nosotros no temíamos a los profesores estrictos. |
| Did you use to interrupt the classes? | ¿Tú interrumpías las clases? |
Just like with -ar verbs, the yo and él/ella/usted forms are exactly the same. Context usually makes it clear who is acting, but you can always include the subject pronoun to avoid confusion.
| The girl used to suffer a lot in adolescence. | La chica sufría mucho en la adolescencia. |
| I always used to receive good grades in that subject. | Yo siempre recibía buenas notas en esa materia. |
Here are a few more examples of the imperfect tense in action to describe routines and experiences from high school:
| In high school, they used to share their secrets. | En el colegio, ellos compartían sus secretos. |
| Our friendship grew every day at the high school. | Nuestra amistad crecía todos los días en el colegio. |
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