PSG 9 - Grammar III - The Spanish Imperfect Indicative

Practical Spanish Grammar pg 159

Finally a verb tense I can memorize! If only all the tenses were this easy!

Notes:

• Most stems are not irregular
• -ar verbs add -aba…
• -er and -ir verbs add -ía…
• Only ir, ser, and ver are irregular in the imperfect
• There are no stem changing verbs in the imperfect
• The accent in the ending -ía in all conjugations breaks up the dipthong
• An accent is used in the 1st person plural to keep the accent off the ‘amos’ ending
• -er and -ir verbs are identical in the first- and third-person singular forms. A pronoun or subject noun is used before the verb if context doesn’t indicate who is performing the action.

According to About.com Spanish Language the imperfect indicative is used:

• To tell of past habitual or repeated actions — Iba a la tienda. (I used to go to the store.) Leíamos los libros. (We would read the books.) Lavaban los manos. (They would wash their hands.) Escribía muchas cartas. (I wrote many letters.)
• To describe a condition, mental state, or state of being from the past — Había una casa aquí. (There used to be a house here.) Era estúpido. (He was stupid.) No te conocía. (I didn’t know you.) Quería estar feliz. (He wanted to be happy.) Tenía frío. (He was cold.)
• To describe an action that occurred over an unspecified time — Lavaban los manos. (They were washing their hands.) Cuando José tocaba el piano, María comía. (While José was playing the piano, María was eating.)
• To indicate time or age in the past — Era la una de la tarde. (It was 1 p.m.) Tenía 43 años. (She was 43 years old.)
• Background — The imperfect indicative is frequently used to provide the background for an event that is described using the preterite. Era [imperfect] la una de la tarde cuando comió [preterite]. (It was 1 p.m. when she ate.) Yo escribía [imperfect] cuando llegaste [preterite]. (I was writing when you arrived.)