The Imperfect Tense 1. Second of the 2 past tenses: a. Preterite: happened once/beginning/end i.

Ayer, anoche, anteayer, el lunes pasado b. Imperfect: Background/ descriptive tense 2. The Imperfect is easy to form: 2 sets of endings, no stem changing verbs, only 3 irregular verbs a. Ar i. Aba, abas, aba, bamos, abais, aban b. Er/ir i. a, as, a, amos, ais, an c. ser i. era, eras, era, ramos, erais, eran d. ir i. iba, ibas, iba, bamos, ibais, iban e. ver i. vea, veas, vea, veamos, veais, vean f. Translation: -ed/was/were+ing/used to Use of Imperfect Tense 1. To describe a repeated past action a. Siempre, a menudo, frecuentamente, todos los das, de vez cuando 2. To describe a person, place, or thing a. El prote era alta b. Nueva York era grande c. El cafe estaba caliente 3. To describe age, weather, time in the past a. Tena treinta aos b. Haca sol c. Eran las dos y media 4. When the translation is was/ were+ ing used to 5. To express a mental state a. Querer, saber, tener, poder i. True meaning of the verb use imperfect ii. Special meaning: use preterite 6. Time expressions: (idiomatic) a. Hace +time+que+present= has been ing b. Haca +teine+que+imperfect= has been ing 7. You can have the imperfect and the preterite in the same sentence

a. The verb before cuando will be imperfect b. The verb after cuando will be preterite i. I was walking where it began to rain ii. Caminaba cuando empez a llover 8. Simultaneous action a. Use the word mientras (while) b. 2 different people 2 different actions at the same time c. Sreesha lea mientras su padre dorma