-ía/-ías/-ía/-íamos/-íais/-ían (imperfecto)
Imperfect -ER/-IR Verbs
These are the standard endings for regular -ER and -IR verbs in the Spanish imperfect past tense, used for ongoing or habitual past actions.
How It Works
The imperfect tense (el pretérito imperfecto) is one of the two simple past tenses in Spanish. In its ordinary past use, it views a situation from within, without presenting its boundaries as the focus. The event can still have a known beginning or end. For regular -ER and -IR verbs, the conjugation is very straightforward because they share the exact same set of endings.
How to Form:
1. Take the infinitive form of the verb (e.g., comer, vivir).
2. Remove the -er or -ir ending to find the stem (com-, viv-).
3. Add the appropriate imperfect ending.
Conjugation Table:
- yo: -ía (comía, vivía)
- tú: -ías (comías, vivías)
- él/ella/usted: -ía (comía, vivía)
- nosotros/as: -íamos (comíamos, vivíamos)
- vosotros/as: -íais (comíais, vivíais)
- ellos/ellas/ustedes: -ían (comían, vivían)
Notice that every ending starts with an accented 'í'.
The imperfect is used to:
- Describe habitual or repeated actions in the past (I used to...).
- Describe ongoing actions or background situations in the past (I was doing...).
- Set the scene or provide background information in a story.
- Describe characteristics, conditions, age, and time in the past.
This tense contrasts with the preterite, which commonly presents a past event as a bounded whole. The contrast concerns how the event is presented, not whether it really ever ended.
Examples (5)
- Cuando era niño, comía muchos dulces.
When I was a child, I used to eat a lot of candy.
Word by Word: When I was a child, I ate a lot of sweets.
‘Comía’ is the imperfect of ‘comer’ and describes a habitual action in the past.
- Vivíamos en Madrid en esa época.
We were living in Madrid at that time.
Word by Word: We lived in Madrid in that era.
Vivíamos describes the situation as ongoing during the past period. It does not specify an endpoint here, but that does not mean the speakers or listener could not know when it ended.
- Ella escribía una carta cuando sonó el teléfono.
She was writing a letter when the phone rang.
Word by Word: She was writing a letter when rang the telephone.
Escribía presents writing as ongoing when sonó locates the phone’s ringing. The sentence does not necessarily say that she stopped writing.
- Ustedes leían el periódico todas las mañanas.
You all used to read the newspaper every morning.
Word by Word: You all read the newspaper all the mornings.
‘Leían’ (from ‘leer’) indicates a repeated, habitual action in the past.
- El sol salía por el este.
The sun was rising in the east.
Word by Word: The sun was coming out through the east.
‘Salía’ (from ‘salir’) describes a scene or an ongoing natural process in the past.
Common Mistakes
Omitting the written accent from an imperfect -ía ending.
Yo bebia café cuando llamaste.Yo bebía café cuando llamaste.All these imperfect endings keep an accent on í. A single past event can use the imperfect when viewed as ongoing; Ayer bebía un café is not automatically wrong and does not mean drinking lasted all morning.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To learn the imperfect endings for -ER and -IR verbs, you must first be comfortable with subject pronouns and how regular -ER and -IR verbs are structured in their base forms.
Related Patterns
- -aba/-abas/-aba/-ábamos/-abais/-abanImperfect -AR Verbs
This is the direct counterpart for conjugating regular -AR verbs in the imperfect tense. The endings are different, but the usage of the tense is the same.
Level 2 - Preterite for Completion
The preterite commonly presents a bounded whole, while the imperfect presents an internal view or background. An event expressed with the imperfect can still have been completed; the choice depends on the intended viewpoint.
Level 2 - Imperfect for Habits
This explains one of the core reasons to use the imperfect tense endings: to talk about things you 'used to do' repeatedly in the past.
Level 2 - Imperfect for Background
This explains another key use of the imperfect: setting the scene, describing people, places, and situations in the past.
Level 2 - era/eras/era/éramos/eranImperfect of Ser
While most -ER/-IR verbs are regular in the imperfect, 'ser' (to be) is one of the three irregulars. It's extremely common and essential to learn alongside the regular patterns.
Level 2 - iba/ibas/iba/íbamos/ibanImperfect of Ir
'Ir' (to go) is another of the three irregular verbs in the imperfect. Its forms are very different from the regular endings and must be memorized.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Words in This Pattern
Practice -ía/-ías/-ía/-íamos/-íais/-ían (imperfecto) in Bubblegum
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