Grammar patterns · GCSE Spanish

Imperfect tense

Used to, was doing, and what things were like: -aba and -ía, plus era, iba and había.

UNDERSTAND→RETRIEVE→REMEMBER
THE MEMORY HOOK
Used to, was doing, what it was like. -ar takes -aba. -er and -ir take -ía.

The important bits

What you need to know

  1. 1

    Use the imperfect for habits, descriptions and ongoing past: what you used to do, what something was like.

  2. 2

    Regular -ar: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Hablaba, hablábamos.

  3. 3

    Regular -er and -ir: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Comía, vivía, comíamos.

  4. 4

    Only three verbs are irregular: ser → era, ir → iba, ver → veía. Había (there was/were) is the imperfect of hay.

  5. 5

    Trigger phrases: antes, cuando era niño, todos los veranos, mientras, de niño, siempre (in the past).

  6. 6

    Era, tenía and había paint the scene: Era un pueblo pequeño. Tenía un río. Había mucha gente.

  7. 7

    Pair with the preterite in stories: Mientras veía la tele, sonó el teléfono.

  8. 8

    Nosotros needs the accent: hablábamos, comíamos. Without it the stress is wrong on the page.

Quotations worth analysing

Short evidence. Real method.

“Cuando era joven, jugaba al fútbol todos los sábados.”
Imperfect habit

Era and jugaba describe a repeated past, not one Saturday. Todos los sábados is the habit signal. Preterite would be one match: el sábado pasado jugué.

Go deeper

How do I form the imperfect?

Take the infinitive stem and add a long, gentle ending. Hablar → hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablabais, hablaban. Comer and vivir share -ía: comía, vivía, comíamos, vivíamos. The first and third persons look the same, so a subject or a name often helps: María hablaba. Only ser, ir and ver break the pattern: era, iba, veía. That is the whole formation job. Because the endings are so regular, the imperfect is the friendliest past tense to write accurately once you stop mixing it with the preterite.

Go deeper

What does the imperfect actually mean?

English often needs two words: was doing, used to, would (in the past). Spanish uses one imperfect verb. De niño vivía en Madrid is I used to live. Llovía is it was raining. Mi abuela era muy amable describes a characteristic in the past. Examiners look for this meaning, not just the ending. If your sentence is a single completed event with ayer, you probably wanted the preterite. If it is weather, age, time, a repeated action or a background scene, stay in the imperfect and keep era, había and tenía ready.

Go deeper

How do I use imperfect and preterite together?

A high-mark past paragraph uses both. Imperfect sets the camera running; preterite snaps the event. Era las ocho y llovía. De repente, llegó mi amigo y fuimos al cine. Mientras estudiaba, sonó el móvil. The interruption is preterite; the background is imperfect. In 90-word writing you do not need a novel. One era or había sentence plus two preterite events with ayer or el año pasado proves two past flavours and still leaves room for a future sentence. That combination is exactly what quality-of-language marks are looking for.

WORKED EXAMPLE

See the idea in action

Cuando era pequeño, vivía en Valencia. Todos los veranos iba a la playa con mi familia. Un día, vimos un delfín. Era, vivía and iba are imperfect habits and background. Vimos is the one-off event, so preterite. The paragraph now has description and a completed action.

Exam technique

Turn knowledge into marks

If you can swap in used to and the sentence still works, you want the imperfect. If you can swap in yesterday and it was a single event, you want the preterite.

Common mistakes

Do not give these marks away

  1. 01

    Using preterite for weather and age: ayer fui frío or tenía diez años with a one-off stamp. Age in the past is tenía. Weather background is hacía or llovía.

  2. 02

    Forgetting the accent on -ía and -ábamos: comia, hablabamos.

  3. 03

    Writing estaba when you needed era for a characteristic: mi padre estaba alto instead of era alto.

QUICK RETRIEVAL

Which sentence is imperfect for a childhood habit?

ACuando era niño, jugaba al tenis.

BAyer jugué al tenis.

CMañana jugaré al tenis.

Show the answer

Cuando era niño, jugaba al tenis.. Era and jugaba describe a repeated past. Ayer jugué is preterite. Jugaré is future.

Quick questions

If this is the bit you searched

Is había singular or plural?

Había covers there was and there were. You do not change it to habían in standard GCSE writing.

How do I say I used to go?

Iba. Ir in the imperfect is iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban.