Nomere? cae 0 The imperfect tense ‘The indicative imperfect tense in Spanish is used to communicate actions that happened in the past. Here we first review the imperfect tense and its uses, and then the use of the imperfect and the preterit in the same sentence, You may want to review Chapters 12 and 13, which include the uses and the conjugations of the preterit. “The se is used to indicate actigs place at ©ponspecific timer that happen the past. Camila visitaba a su familia ‘en Colombia. Su familia vivia cerca de Cali. sects comes vinrecpnsy HOB HQD in Colombia. Her family lived near Cali. Achiys Now, let's review the three conjugations of regular verbs in the imperfect, tense, Regular verbs in the imperfect Almost all Spanish verbs are regular in the imperfect tense. To form the imperfect, drop the infinitive endings ar, -er, or ~ir and add the following en -ar verbs: aba, -abas, -aba, -bamos, -ibais, -aban er verbs: -fa, -ias, ia, -iamos, -iais,-ian -ir verbs: -ia, contar to count, tel contaba contabas contaba contébamos contabais contaban -fan, -iamos, -iais, fan vender to sell vendia vendias vendia vendiamos vendiais vendian ee ng120 Note that the nosotros and vasotros forms of -ar verbs take @ written accent. The endings in -er and -ir verbs are the same throughout, and they all take a written accent. Irregular verbs in the imperfect ‘Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect tense: ser, ir, and ver. ser to be irto go ver to see era iba veia eras bas velas era iba vela éramos ‘fbamos veiamos erais ibais velais eran iba vefan Los habltos de Luli, complet eah sentence ih th pproprite pete tse form ofthe verb in parentheses. 1 tty tenesempr LOGI doings ea de tu casa. (in) 2. coos sep seman ts SSP ASDC. sera 3, Sin embargo, ela todos los dias al trabajo. (ir) 4s lub ym bpm Ht — SEI jon 5. Luld yyo eens muy buenas amigas. See) 6. {Qué pena! Muchas veces las compatieras de trabajo el cansancio. fen su cara. (ver) 7, A menudo Luli _levorn, l pela desareglado. (llevar) 8. A veces, también ella la camisa al revés (nse out. (ponerse) 9, En aquellos ales yo mucha pena por el. (sent) 10, Ella no =podid __ dormir porave POALAIOS _ de insomnio, (poder, paliecer) ie 11. Todos nosotros ena tienda CONAMUAMDS 10s problemas de Lua (conoce) 12, flodos sus colegas eo HPL. — regalarle un despertador (querer) 13, gisto_ G20) _V_una buena idea para un buen regalo o para una broma? (ser) 14. Noy SOAIA que algunos reise de Luli. (saber, querer) PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT Intermediate Spanish Grammarr Uses of the imperfect tense “The imperfect tense is used to express the following: dx or habitual action /or an action that used to happen often in the past; the ‘Foglsh equivalent bed io fo or would. | Lisa acompafiaba a Nina a menudo. Lisa would go often with Nina. An action, a situation that was happening or was in progress in the past. Zhere is no refer- “ence to when the action began or ei ‘uses the vert the gerund £7 form of the verb) to translate this sense of the imperfect. Adding -ing to a verb in English indicates an action in progress. ‘Los chicos jugaban en el parque. ‘The children were playing in the park. /-X description of people, things, or events in the past 7 ‘All fenfa el pelo largo y los ojos verdes. Al Fad long hair and green eyes. ‘Las calles estaban resbalosas, ‘The streets were slippery. incluia dos orquestas cubanas. The concert included two Cuban orchestras. ‘Eran Jas cuatro dela tarde. ‘Tt was four o'clock in the af La reunion siempre era los lunes, “The meeting was always on Monday. Erael mayo. It was the first of May. ‘¢ The age of a person or ani Pablo tenia cuarenta afios. Pablo was forty years old. ‘Mi gato tenia dos afios. My cat was two years old. ‘Yo pensaba en ti todos los dias. Lused to think about yo1 ‘day. (Queriamos una casa con tres bafios. ‘We wanted a home with three bathrooms. Esperdbamos el autobuis cerca de mi casa, We used to wait forthe bus near my house. Sabias que ten{as problemas. ‘You knew you had problems. Jo physical sensation with doler, sentir, or molestar_/ oe Te dolia la cabeza. He had a headache. No se sentia bien. He did not fee! wel. {fe molestaba el ruido? id the noise bother you? ‘The imperfect tense 121pencicio Traduccién. en | was sixteen years old | used to live in a smalLigyn. Qnos 8.00. ‘ul But the Water was [peaeicia) for the use of the imperfect tense. 2. AL se despertaba temprano porque le doa la espalda 3, > ra sen toniatarnubite (urine) en loca eam era calvo (bald 4, B _sal, mi hermano, queria una casa lejos de la ciudad. 5, 42 __ Tambien deseaba comprar un auto nuevo. 6 7. Mis tios eran muy amables. 8 Yo tenia dolor de cabeza. Intermediate Spanish Grammar B. Mi primo Alberto siempre salia temprano por la mafana. i Sus hijas gemelas, Lola y Sarita, tenian 25 ahos en el afio 2010. Mi familia y yo. First read the sentences. Then choose the leter that indicates the rule a. a physical sensation ba habitual action . adescription d.a person's age ¢. astate of mind in the pastacme 10, 2 is primos pensaban en mi lis padres tomaban café con leche todos los dias. Una descripcién en el pasado. Complete each sentence with the appropriate form of the imperfect of each verb parentheses. seni ‘Cuando Juan 1. (tener) quince afios, todavia Juan (i acasayno4,__ NACAO __thacer) la tarea. Su habitagion 5. TENIA tener) dos ventanas y 6. ane — (haber periédicosviejos en el piso. Cuando Juan 2. {entrar)a su dormitorio, 8, CSCUCNOZO7 (escuchar) egnciones, 9. _VE1O* __ (ver) programas en la tele y 10. (leer las tras cémicas (comic strip) en los periéicos. Juan M.. (querer) resolver todos los problemas del mundo y 12. (pensar) que la risa era la solucién de muchos problemas. Qué optimista 13, CAO Geer Juant Phrases used with the imperfect Previous examples included phrases that gave the context for the use of the imperfect. These phrases describe the frequency of repetitive and ongoing past actions and nonspecific time. |VOCABULARIO| ‘You will use some of these expressions in the exercise that follows. amenudo often muchasveces many times aveces sometimes toda la vide all one's ife cada dia every day todaslas semanas every week cada afio every year todo el dia ail day con frecuencia frequently todoslosdias every day enaquella época at that time todoel tiempo all the time ‘en aquellos at that time todoslosaiios every year tiempos frecuentemente frequently varias veces several times generalmente usually varios dia several days ‘The imperfect tense 123Traduccién. parents and | usually visited several cities,in the United States when I was a young git vands ' 7. He was so funny! Several times | wrote his name and drew a heart on a piece of paper. ee ee 8. Fernanib ied mallee - - . 9. 1 always felt happy reading his letters. \ i \ Oo +10. Femando and | got married and now we remember those days when we were young. oNORD Using the imperfect and the preterit in one sentence ‘The imperfect and the preterit are often used together in one sentence: 8 background information and describes a situation, wherever th€ preterit harrates an event ‘sully the peters used pre for an action that interrupts an ongoing (imperfect tense) action. Dormiamos. Wewere sleeping Elladrén rompié la ventana. ‘The burglar broke the window. 124 Practice Maxes Penrect Intermediate Spanish Grammar‘Now let's combine the two aetions in one sentence: Dormiamos cuando el ladrén rompié la ventana, Below are further examples of the preterit and the imperfect together in a sentence. El policia caminaba cuando oy6 un ruido, The policeman was walking when he heard “Mientras Eli dormia, el telefono soné. While Eli wus sleeping the phone rang. sQuién no queria comer cuando sirvieron Who did not want to eat when they la cenat served dimer? Traduccién. (hablaBa’ 1. He interrupted me while | was talking. 2. twas four otclock when Rosa and I met at the florist (floristeria). a BOS Raea] fen aftother patient screamed “he tinperfect tense 125