Spanish grammar - The imperfect past tense - El imperfecto

The imperfect past tense - El imperfecto

The imperfect past tense is used to describe actions that were on-going or habitual in the past.

It is used to express (i) habitual or repeated actions, (ii) actions in progress in the past, (iii) descriptions and background information, (iv) mental or emotional states and (v) time and age.

Note that El imperfecto is often used for interrupted actions - 'I was doing this 'when' (cuando) this happened'.The imperfecto conjugation depends on the verb type. These will be covered in coming topics.

In this topic we present the conjugation of the verb ir ('to go') which conjugates irregularly in el imperfecto:

• yo iba -' I was going'

• tú ibas - 'you (informal) were going'

• él, ella, usted iba - 'he - she - you (formal) wasΔwere going'

• nosotros, nosotras íbamos - 'we were going'

• vosotros, vosotras ibais - 'you all (informal) were going'

• ellos, ellas, ustedes iban - 'they - you all (formal) were going'

Examples:
	yo iba I was going ir ⇒ (yo) iba
	tú ibas you (informal) were going ir ⇒ (tú) ibas
	él iba he was going ir ⇒ (él) iba
	ella iba she was going ir ⇒ (ella) iba
	usted iba you (formal) were going ir ⇒ (usted) iba
	nosotros íbamos we were going ir ⇒ (nosotros) íbamos
	nosotras íbamos we (feminine) were going ir ⇒ (nosotras) íbamos
	vosotros ibais you all (informal) were going ir ⇒ (vosotros) ibais
	vosotras ibais you all (informal, feminine) were going ir ⇒ (vosotras) ibais
	ellos iban they were going ir ⇒ (ellos) iban
	ellas iban they (feminine) were going ir ⇒ (ellas) iban
	ustedes iban you all (formal) were going ir ⇒ (ustedes) iban
	Yo iba a la escuela. I was going to school. ir ⇒ (yo) iba
	¿Por qué ibas al mercado? Why were (you, informal) going to market? ir ⇒ (tú) ibas
	¿Adónde iba él? Where was he going? ir ⇒ (él) iba
	¿Por qué no iba ella a la biblioteca en ese momento? Why was she not going to the library at the time? en ese momento means 'at the time'
	Nosotros íbamos al cine. We were going to the movies.
	Vosotros ibais a la playa. You all (informal) were going to the beach.
	Ellos iban a la tienda a comprar cerveza. They were going to the store to buy beer.
	Ellas iban a las montañas. They (feminine) were going to the mountains.
	¿Iban ustedes a visitar a sus abuelos? Were you all (formal) going to visit your grandparents?