The Imperfect Tense In

Spanish
Tom Hepworth

When do you use it?

The imperfect tense is used to refer to actions in the past that occurred
repeatedly.

Eg. I used to walk every day. > Yo caminaba cada da.

It also sets the stage for events that occurred in the past.

We were coming home when we saw Juan. > Venamos para casa cuando vimos a Juan.

The imperfect tense is also used to refer to events which happened over a long
period of time.

I used to eat paella frequently. > Yo coma frecuentemente paella.

Its equivalent verb in English

In the English language, it is known as the past progressive tense. Its
construction combines progressive aspect with past tense, and is formed
using the past tense of be (was or were) with the present of the main verb. It
is used to indicate action which was ongoing at the past time.
At three o'clock yesterday, I was working in the garden.

The past progressive is often used to denote an action which was interrupted
by an event.
While I was washing the dishes, I heard a loud noise.

How the verb works

The complete pattern of the imperfect past of the verb "hablar" looks like this in
Spanish.

Yo - hablaba
T hablabas
l - hablaba
Nosotros - hablbamos
Ellos - hablaban

As you can see, it is the end of the verb that needs to be changed in order to
change into the Imperfect tense.

Exercise
Change these into the Imperfect tense.
1.
I played
2.

I used to eat

3.

I was watching

4.

I sang

5.

I walked

6.

I was eating chips