Imperfect of -er and -ir Verbs

Level 2

-er and -ir verbs share one set of endings: -ía, -ías, -ía, -iamos, -iades, -ían: Vivía en Vigo (I used to live in Vigo).

How It Works

The forms (comer, to eat; vivir, to live):
eu comía / vivía · ti comías / vivías · el/ela comía / vivía
nós comiamos / viviamos · vós comiades / viviades · eles/elas comían / vivían

Why some forms have an accent: in co-mí-a the stress falls on i before another vowel, so the accent marks the hiatus. See accents in vowel sequences. In co-mi-a-mos the stress is on a, so there is no accent. Spanish writes this form with an accent, but Galician does not.

ir: the copretérito of ir follows this pattern: ía, ías, ía, iamos, iades, ían. In everyday speech you will hear iba almost everywhere, but the written standard uses the traditional ía.

Irregular verbs: only ser, ter, vir and pór have irregular copretérito forms (era, tiña, viña, puña). See irregular imperfects.

When to use it: for habits (Comiamos xuntos os domingos), for states and knowledge (Sabía a resposta), and for background (Chovía cando saín). A single finished action uses the preterite; see preterite versus imperfect.

Examples (6)

  1. Vivía en Vigo.

    I used to live in Vigo.

    Word by Word: Lived-I in Vigo.

    vivir → vivía: the accent marks the hiatus í-a.

  2. Comiamos xuntos os domingos.

    We used to eat together on Sundays.

    Word by Word: Ate-we together the Sundays.

    comiamos: stressed on a, with no written accent.

  3. Sabía a resposta, pero non dixo nada.

    She knew the answer, but she did not say anything.

    Word by Word: Knew the answer, but not said nothing.

    sabía describes a state; dixo is a single event.

  4. Chovía cando saín da casa.

    It was raining when I left home.

    Word by Word: Rained when left-I from-the house.

    chovía sets the background.

  5. Que faciades nos veráns?

    What did you all use to do in the summers?

    Word by Word: What did-you-all in-the summers?

    faciades: the vós form, with no accent.

  6. Antes ía ao traballo en bicicleta.

    I used to go to work by bike.

    Word by Word: Before went-I to-the work in bicycle.

    The copretérito of ir is ía.

Common Mistakes

  • Writing an accent on the nós form, as in Spanish.

    Comíamos xuntos.
    Comiamos xuntos.

    In writing, the standard form is stressed on a and has no accent. You may hear comíamos in speech, but the standard spelling is comiamos.

  • Leaving out the accent on ía.

    Eu ia ao colexio a pé.
    Eu ía ao colexio a pé.

    The i is stressed and forms its own syllable, so it needs an accent: ía, ías, ían. You will often hear iba in speech, but the written standard is ía.

  • Using the Spanish vós ending -íais.

    Onde viviais antes?
    Onde viviades antes?

    The Galician vós ending is -iades.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Imperfect of -er and -ir VerbsLevel 2

Learn This First

The -er and -ir imperfect uses -ía forms with its own stress pattern.