Imperfect Indicative -er verbs  

Spanish Grammar Imperfect Tense ER Verbs
Overview

The imperfect tense of regular -er and -ir verbs take place by substituting the "er" and "ir" ending by ía, ías, ía, íamos,íais, ían.

yo ía
ías
Ud./ él/ ella ía
nosotros íamos
vosotros íais
Uds./ ellos/ ellas ían

Let's review the verb tener (to have) as an example:

ten + (ending) --> tenía, tenías, tenía, teníamos, teníais, tenían

The first and third person singular forms are identical, therefore the context must distinguish between the two. Let's look at some example sentences:

Yo tenía el derecho de paso.
I had the right to pass.

Tú tenías las llaves.
You used to have the keys.

Mi carro no tenía radio.
My car didn't used to have a radio.

No teníamos tiempo.
We didn't have time.

Let's look at some other verbs.

querer - to want
Yo quería ser doctor.
I used to want to be a doctor.

Tú querías resultados.
You were wanting results.

Todos queríamos viajar al mar.
We were all wanting to travel to the sea.


Continue
Learn Vocabulary
Use Vocabulary
Quizzes
 
  Vocabulary Flashcards
  Vocabulary Quiz
  Photo Quiz
  Spelling Quiz
  Sentence Flashcards
  Video
  Example Sentences
  Dialogue
  Image-Sentence Match
  Word Order Quiz
  Multiple Choice Quiz
  A or B Quiz
  Fill In

Icon Legend

Icons are color coded by Spanish level:

Green = Beginner
Blue = Intermediate
Orange = Advanced


Black icons are unrelated to Spanish level:

Help
Download
Information







Popular Phrase: to go in spanish | Telling Time in Spanish | Conjugated Verb: desacomodar - to untidy, to mess up [ click for full conjugation ]