Imperfect for States
Use the imperfect for age, time, and weather in the past.
How It Works
When you're telling a story or describing a situation in the past, you need to set the scene. The imperfect tense is the perfect tool for this. It provides the background details against which the main actions (usually in the preterite) take place. Three of the most common types of background information are age, time, and weather.
1. Age (Edad)
Age in the past is considered a state, not a completed action. We use the imperfect of the verb tener (to have) to talk about how old someone was.
- Cuando tenía diez años, jugaba al fútbol todos los días. (When I was ten years old, I played soccer every day.)
2. Time (Hora)
Telling time in the past is another form of setting the scene. We use the imperfect of the verb ser (to be), which is irregular.
- Use era for one o'clock: Era la una de la mañana. (It was one in the morning.)
- Use eran for all other hours: Eran las cinco de la tarde. (It was five in the afternoon.)
3. Weather (Tiempo)
Describing the weather in the past provides atmospheric background. Common verbs used in the imperfect include hacer, estar, haber, and weather-specific verbs like llover (to rain) or nevar (to snow).
- Hacía mucho sol ese día. (It was very sunny that day.)
- El cielo estaba nublado. (The sky was cloudy.)
- Había mucha niebla en la ciudad. (There was a lot of fog in the city.)
- Llovía cuando salimos de casa. (It was raining when we left the house.)
Examples (4)
- Cuando yo tenía ocho años, mi familia y yo fuimos a España.
When I was eight years old, my family and I went to Spain.
Word by Word: When I had eight years, my family and I went to Spain.
‘Tenía’ (imperfect) is used to state the age, which serves as the background for the main action ‘fuimos’ (preterite).
- Eran las tres de la tarde cuando el detective llegó a la escena.
It was three in the afternoon when the detective arrived at the scene.
Word by Word: They were the three of the afternoon when the detective arrived to the scene.
‘Eran’ (imperfect of ser) sets the time, providing the context for the completed action ‘llegó’ (preterite).
- Hacía mucho viento y llovía, así que decidimos quedarnos en casa.
It was very windy and raining, so we decided to stay home.
Word by Word: It made much wind and it was raining, so we decided to stay in house.
‘Hacía’ and ‘llovía’ (imperfect) describe the ongoing weather conditions that led to the decision ‘decidimos’ (preterite).
- Mi abuela tenía noventa años y siempre contaba las mejores historias.
My grandmother was ninety years old and always used to tell the best stories.
Word by Word: My grandmother had ninety years and always told the best stories.
‘Tenía’ describes her age, and ‘contaba’ describes a habitual action, both classic uses of the imperfect.
Common Mistakes
Using the preterite tense for age instead of the imperfect.
Tuve quince años cuando aprendí a conducir.Tenía quince años cuando aprendí a conducir.Age is considered a background state, not a single, completed event. Therefore, the imperfect 'tenía' is correct for describing how old you were, not the preterite 'tuve'.
Using the preterite for telling time in a past narrative.
Fueron las ocho cuando me llamaste.Eran las ocho cuando me llamaste.When telling time in the past to set a scene, use the imperfect of 'ser' ('era' for 1 o'clock, 'eran' for all other hours). The preterite 'fueron' is incorrect for providing this background context, as it treats the time as a completed event rather than an ongoing state.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To describe age, time, and weather in the past, you must first understand which verbs are used for these concepts in the present (tener for age, ser for time, and hacer for weather) and how to conjugate them in the imperfect tense.
- era/eras/era/éramos/eranImperfect of Ser
The imperfect form of 'ser' (era) is required to express time in the past (e.g., 'eran las tres').
Level 2 - tengo/tienes/tiene/tenemos/tienenTener Present Tense
Understanding that 'tener' is used for age in the present is necessary to apply its imperfect forms for age in the past.
Foundations - hago/haces/hace/hacemos/hacenHacer Present Tense
Understanding that 'hacer' is used for weather in the present is necessary to apply its imperfect forms for weather in the past.
Foundations
Related Patterns
- Imperfect for Background
This is the broader category. Using the imperfect for age, time, and weather are specific, very common examples of using the imperfect for general background descriptions.
Level 2 - Preterite for Completion
This is the main contrast. The imperfect for states (like age/time/weather) provides the background ('what was happening'), while the preterite describes the main, completed actions that occurred against that background.
Level 2 - Imperfect for Habits
Both patterns use the imperfect tense to talk about the past without a clear end point. This pattern describes states, while 'imperfect for habitual past' describes repeated actions ('used to do').
Level 2 - iba/ibas/iba/íbamos/ibanImperfect of Ir
Like 'ser', 'ir' is another common verb with irregular imperfect forms. It's often used in background descriptions, e.g., 'íbamos a la playa' (we used to go to the beach).
Level 2 - -ía/-ías/-ía/-íamos/-íais/-ían (imperfecto)Imperfect -ER/-IR Verbs
This pattern provides the conjugation rules for regular -ER and -IR verbs in the imperfect, such as 'tener' (tenía) for age and 'llover' (llovía) for weather.
Level 2
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Imperfect for States in Bubblegum
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