the imperfect tense · the imperfect tense the imperfect is another past tense in spanish. how do...

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Unidad 4, Lección 1 10¡Avancemos! 2

The Imperfect Tense

The imperfect is another past tense in Spanish. How do you use it?

Here’s how: The imperfect is used to describe something that was not

perfected or not completed in the past. You use it to . . .

Regular verbs in the imperfect take these endings:

Él estaba aquí cuando yo hacía el pastel.

He was here when I was making the cake.

Only three verbs are irregular in

the imperfect.

Cuando yo era niña, íbamos a

la playa.

When I was little, we used to go to

the beach.

• say how old someone was

• tell what time it was• talk about something that was happening

• talk about something you used to do

ser ir ver

era iba veíaeras ibas veíasera iba veíaéramos íbamos veíamoserais ibais veíaiseran iban veían

estar hacer saliryo estaba hacía salíatú estabas hacías salías

usted, él, ella estaba hacía salíanosotros(as) estábamos hacíamos salíamosvosotros(as) estabais hacíais salíais

ustedes, ellos(as) estaban hacían salían

Note that the yo form and the usted/él/ ella forms are the same.

TRANSPARENCY 10Gramática, Unidad 4, Lección 1

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Preterite and Imperfect

You have learned two verb forms used for the past tense: the preterite and the imperfect. How do you know when to use each one?

Here’s how: Decide whether an action had a specific beginning and ending. Use the preterite if the action started and ended at a definite time.

La guerra empezó en 1846. The war began in 1846.

Santa Ana fue presidente de México. Santa Ana was the president of Mexico.

Use the imperfect to talk about past actions without saying when they began or ended.

Los guerreros no tenían miedo del enemigo. The warriors were not afraid of the enemy.

El ejército peleaba valientemente. The army fought bravely.

You can apply both tenses to talk about two overlapping events. • the preterite for the action that occurred • the imperfect for what was going on at the time

Cuando la guerra terminó, Santa Ana era presidente de México.When the war ended, Santa Ana was president of Mexico.

Note that you use the preterite of ser (fue) to say that Santa Ana was once president of Mexico, but you use the imperfect of ser (era) to say that Santa Ana was president during an unspecified time.



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Preterite of -car, -gar, and -zar Verbs

In the preterite, verbs that end in -car, -gar, and -zar are spelled

differently in the yo form to maintain their pronunciation.

Here’s how:

Here are some other verbs that change in the same way.

tú Form yo Form

¿Buscaste las ruinas? Sí, busqué las ruinas.Did you look for the ruins? Yes, I looked for the ruins.

¿Pagaste la cuenta? No, no pagué la cuenta.Did you pay the bill? No, I didn’t pay the bill.

¿Cuándo empezaste la excavación? Empecé la excavación ayer.When did you begin the excavation? I began the excavation yesterday.

-car -gar -zar

sacar llegar almorzartocar jugar comenzar

buscar c qu (yo) busqué

pagar g gu (yo) pagué

empezar z c (yo) empecé

becomes

becomes

becomes



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More Verbs with Irregular Preterite Stems

The verbs venir, querer, decir, and traer are irregular in the preterite.

Here’s how: All four verbs have irregular preterite stems. Venir and

querer take the same preterite endings as estar, poder,

poner, saber, and tener.

¿Ustedes vinieron de la biblioteca?

Did you come from the library?

The verb querer usually has a different meaning in the preterite. It

means tried.

Quisimos ver las ruinas, pero no pudimos.

We tried to see the ruins, but we couldn’t.

The preterite stems of decir and traer end in j. Use the same

irregular preterite endings as above, but drop the i from the

ustedes/ellos/ellas ending.

Verb Stem Irregular Preterite Endings

venir to come vin-

querer to want quis-

-e -imos-iste -isteis-o -ieron

Verb Stem ustedes/ellos/ellas

decir to say; to tell dij- dijeron

traer to bring traj- trajeron

Marcos me dijo que están hechas

a mano.

Marcos told me that they’re handmade.

Ellos trajeron unas cerámicas

de México.

They brought some ceramics from Mexico.



the imperfect tense · the imperfect tense the imperfect is another past tense in spanish. how do...

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