Imperfect for Habits

Level 2

Use the imperfect for past habits or routines, like 'I used to play soccer'.

How It Works

In Spanish, the imperfect commonly presents past habits from within the period when they held. It's the equivalent of saying 'I used to...' or 'I would...' in English.

Key Uses for Habits:

  • Describing routines or repeated actions in the past.
  • Talking about what things were like over a period of time.

Conjugation:
The imperfect has very regular endings for -ar verbs (like hablaba) and -er/-ir verbs (like comía, vivía).

Irregular Verbs:
The three basic irregular patterns usually taught are ser, ir and ver; derivatives such as prever follow their base verb:

Signal Words:
Look for words that indicate repetition, such as:

  • siempre (always)
  • todos los días (every day)
  • a menudo (often)
  • generalmente (generally)
  • cada semana/mes/año (every week/month/year)

This tense contrasts with the preterite, which presents an event or a series of events as a bounded whole. Repetition does not automatically require imperfect: El año pasado fui al gimnasio cada lunes sums up the visits within a closed period. The imperfect iba presents that activity as a routine. Frequency words help identify repetition but do not dictate the tense.

Examples (5)

  1. Cuando era niño, jugaba al fútbol todos los días.

    When I was a child, I used to play soccer every day.

    Word by Word: When I-was child, I-played to-the soccer all the days.

  2. Mi abuela siempre nos preparaba galletas.

    My grandmother would always make us cookies.

    Word by Word: My grandmother always for-us prepared cookies.

  3. Antes, vivíamos en una casa pequeña.

    Before, we used to live in a small house.

    Word by Word: Before, we-lived in a house small.

  4. ¿Ibas mucho al cine de joven?

    Did you use to go to the movies a lot when you were young?

    Word by Word: Went-you much to-the movies of young?

  5. Generalmente, comíamos juntos en familia.

    Generally, we used to eat together as a family.

    Word by Word: Generally, we-ate together in family.

Common Mistakes

  • Intended viewpoint: describing a past routine rather than summing up all visits during a closed period.

    El año pasado, fui al gimnasio cada lunes.
    El año pasado, iba al gimnasio cada lunes.

    Both iba and fui are grammatical here. Iba presents the gym visits as a routine; fui sums up the repeated visits during last year. Cada lunes does not force imperfect. Use iba for the intended habitual viewpoint.