Imperfecto IMPERFECTO The imperfect tense is another past

Imperfecto

IMPERFECTO ØThe imperfect tense is another past tense, distinct & NOT interchangeable with the preterite.

You’ve already learned to use the preterite tense to talk about completed actions in the past. Now you’ll review another past tense called the imperfect!! Ø You can use the imperfect in the following ways: l l l To speak about background events in a story. To talk about something you used to do as a habit. A repeated or habitual activity To speak about physical characteristics To express thoughts and Emotions To express time, age, and weather

The following examples use the imperfect because they describe continuing actions in the past. Los estudiantes hacían la tarea todos los días. The students did (used to do) the HW everyday. Don Fernando trabajaba en el banco todos los sábados. Ø Don Fernando (used to) worked at the bank every Saturday. Ø Mi abuelo siempre decía chistes muy divertidos. Ø Mi grandpa always (used to tell) told funny jokes. Ø Ø Ø

The following chart shows you how to form the imperfect of regular verbs. Ø AR Ø hablar ER Comer IR Salir Ø hablabas comías Salías hablaba Ø hablábamos Ø hablabais Ø hablaban comíamos comíais comían Salíamos Salíais Salían Ø

¡OJO! ♫ There are NO stemchanges in the imperfect tense. ♫

That means… yo jugaba tu jugabas ♫

☼ There are ØIr (to go) only three ØVer (to see) irregular verbs in the ØSer (to be) imperfect!

IR (to go) ibas iba íbamos ibais iban

VER (to see) veías veíamos veíais veían

SER (to be) eras era éramos erais eran

KEY WORDS (PALABRAS CLAVES)… ☻Certain words and phrases indicate an indefinite number of repetitions and therefore provide a cue for the use of the imperfect.

a menudo often siempre always a veces sometimes

todos los días every day frecuentamente frequently muchas veces many times

cada lunes every Monday generalmente generally varias veces several times

HABER FORMA TIEMPO MEANING hay había hubo presente imperfecto pretérito there is, there are there was, there were

ØThe imperfect tense of “hay” (there is, there are) is “había” (there was, there were). Notice this verb is both singular & plural. The preterit form is “hubo” (there was, there were in the sense of “there occurred”).

Distinction #1 Ø Preterite for single, memorable actions or events (or a repeated a distinct number of times) Ø Imperfect for repeated, habitual actions or events (# of repetitions not important!) l In such cases, the imperfect is sometimes translated as “used to” or “would + verb”

Ø Ø Ø Ø Práctica. Contesta las siguientes preguntas con la forma correcta del imperfecto. 1. Yo siempre jugaba con unos muñecos de peluche. (jugar) 2. Nosotros teníamos veintiocho años. (tener) 3. _____ las nueve y media de la noche. (ser) Eran 4. Mi hermana nunca trepaba a los árboles. (trepar) 5. Mis hermanitos siempre se portaban malos en el centro comercial. (portar) 6. Cuando era niño, yo iba al España con mis padres todos los veranos. (ir) 7. Mis amigos salían a las discotecas cuando eran más jóvenes. (salir)