# 31. Imperfect Tense

- **Time range:** 02:18:31 – 02:25:22  (duration 00:06:51)
- **Source:** [A Complete Guide To Every Fundamental In Spanish (The Conclusion)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=YHDZSHCt1DE&t=8311s)

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> **[on-screen 02:18:31]**
> The Imperfect Tense In Spanish

**[02:18:32]** tense in Spanish is a form of the past tense used to indicate actions that used

> **[on-screen 02:18:34]**
> The Imperfect Tense In Spanish Actions that used to happen or were happening in the past

**[02:18:35]** to happen or were happening in the past what makes this tense the easiest to memorize in Spanish is that it's only

> **[on-screen 02:18:41]**
> The Imperfect Tense In Spanish: Actions that used to happen or were happening in the past 1). Modified 2 Ways - ar verbs & er/ir verbs 2). Only has 3 irregular conjugation patterns

**[02:18:41]** modifyed two ways without having any irregular y verbs or stem changing patterns aside from three completely irregular ones however it's important to

> **[on-screen 02:18:48]**
> Don’t Confuse the Past Simple with the Past Imperfect

**[02:18:48]** not confuse the past imperfect with the past simple because the two of them generate different meanings in context

> **[on-screen 02:18:53]**
> Past Simple Actions that simply happened

**[02:18:53]** in my video where I talked about the past simple tense included examples of actions that simply happened in the past hence the name past simple the imperfect

> **[on-screen 02:19:00]**
> Past Imperfect An action that used to happen or was happening

**[02:19:00]** also known as the past imperfect is a tense that has two explanations meaning used to happen or was happening in the past and I'm putting a big emphasis on the meaning was happening because it's more of an accurate translation once it's put in English and it's the definition that most teachers don't talk about as I said again the past imperfect tense is the simplest one in Spanish because it only has two conjugation patterns with a r and e r/ i verbs let's

> **[on-screen 02:19:22]**
> -ar ending verbs: aba | abamos abas | abais aba aban

**[02:19:22]** start with verbs ending in a r to conjugate this verb in the Y pronoun you drop the ending of the verb and you get ABA for two you get abas for L you also get ABA and it's the same ending as with

> **[on-screen 02:19:32]**
> -ar ending verbs: aba abamos abas abais aba aban

**[02:19:33]** the Y pronoun so you can only tell the difference between them in context for

> **[on-screen 02:19:36]**
> -ar ending verbs: aba | abamos abas | abais aba aban

**[02:19:36]** noos you get abamos and we have to put an accent on the first a because we have to maintain the sound of the word for Vos you get ab and for AOS you get Aban

> **[on-screen 02:19:45]**
> hablar - to speak (imperfect): hablaba | hablabamos hablabas | hablabais hablaba | hablaban

**[02:19:45]** let's take the verb abl as an example how would you conjugate it in the imperfect for the yo pronoun you take abl drop the ending and get yo abla and

> **[on-screen 02:19:53]**
> Yo hablaba | used to speak | was speaking

**[02:19:53]** this phrase means I used to speak or I was speaking and I'll actually get to

> **[on-screen 02:19:56]**
> Yo hablaba | used to speak | was speaking

**[02:19:57]** this structure later in the video for two you get aabas for L you get abla and

> **[on-screen 02:19:59]**
> hablar - to speak (imperfect): hablaba | hablabamos hablabas | hablabais hablaba | hablaban

**[02:20:02]** you have to put the pronoun before the verb to not confuse it with Y for noos you get AOS and AOS try not concentrating on

> **[on-screen 02:20:10]**
> hablar - to speak (imperfect): hablaba | hablabafnos hablabas | hablabais hablaba | Hablab

**[02:20:11]** these pronouns because they're the least used ones in conversation if anything you should only know how to conjugate them and the best thing about this conjugation pattern is that it's the same across every AR verb there is in Spanish there is no ST changing irregular y verbs which makes the imperfect tense very convenient and it's the same thing with verbs ending in e r and IR however they have a different

> **[on-screen 02:20:28]**
> -er & -ir ending verbs: ia jamos ias iais ia ian

**[02:20:29]** pattern than a verbs but both e r and ir verbs share the same pattern for the Y pronoun you drop the ending of the verb and put for two you putas for L you also get and don't confuse it with the your pronoun in context for noos you getos Vos and AOS taking the verbs and as

> **[on-screen 02:20:48]**
> comer - to eat (imperfect): vivir - to live (imperfect): comia | comiamos comias | comiais comia | comian

**[02:20:49]** examples how would you conjugate the verb K in the imperfect for the yo pronoun you take drop the ending and put the ending so you get yo meaning I used

> **[on-screen 02:20:58]**
> Yocomia | used to eat | was eating

**[02:20:59]** to eat or I was eating I was eating is

> **[on-screen 02:21:00]**
> Yo comia | used to eat | was eating

**[02:21:01]** more of an accurate definition and I'll get to that later for to you getas you

> **[on-screen 02:21:04]**
> comer - to eat (imperfect): vivir - to live (imperfect): comia | comiamos comias | comiais comia | comian

**[02:21:05]** used to eat or you were eating for El you get for noos you get andos and now you simply replicate

> **[on-screen 02:21:14]**
> comer - to eat (imperfect): vivir - to live (imperfect): vivia viviamos vivias | viviais vivia vivian

**[02:21:15]** the same idea with the verb VI as always

> **[on-screen 02:21:17]**
> comer - to eat (imperfect): vivir - to live (imperfect): vivia viviamos e r v vivias viv Is A vivia via

**[02:21:17]** try not focusing on these pronouns because they're not that useful in conversation as I said before there is no stem changing irregular yo pronouns or any irregular exceptions with verbs ending in e and IR however there's only

> **[on-screen 02:21:27]**
> Irregulars in the Imperfect: e Ir- To go e Ver - Tosee e Ser - To be (factually)

**[02:21:28]** three completely irregular verbs in the imperfect which are very useful and those are ver and S because there is no conjugation pattern to follow with any of them I recommend just memorizing their patterns in the imperfect for you

> **[on-screen 02:21:39]**
> Ir- To go (imperfect): iba ibamos ibas ibais iba iban

**[02:21:39]** get yo I used to go or I was going to ibas Elba and so on as always don't

> **[on-screen 02:21:45]**
> Ir- To go (imperfect): iba ibamos Vv ibas bi Ss A iba iba

**[02:21:45]** focus on these pronouns for you get I

> **[on-screen 02:21:47]**
> Ver - To see (imperfect): veia veiamos veias veiais veia veian

**[02:21:49]** used to see or I was seeing two and so on as always don't focus on

> **[on-screen 02:21:54]**
> Ver - To see (imperfect): veia ve| amos \ 4 veias vel s A veia eia

**[02:21:54]** these pronouns at last you have the verb

> **[on-screen 02:21:56]**
> Ser - To be (imperfect): era éramos eras erais era eran

**[02:21:59]** is and so on the verb however is used in a very different way in the imperfect than in the past simple said in the past

> **[on-screen 02:22:05]**
> Ser inthe Ser in the past past simple: imperfect:

**[02:22:06]** simple describes things that

> **[on-screen 02:22:07]**
> Ser inthe Ser in the past past simple: imperfect: Describes things that happened and finished in the past, specifically when, where, and how events took place

**[02:22:07]** specifically happened in the past and that were finished in the past mainly speaking of when where and how events took place however said in the imperfect changes its meaning by applying to

> **[on-screen 02:22:16]**
> Ser in the Ser in the past past simple: imperfect: Describes things that Things that used to happened and finished happen or were in the past, specifically happening in the past when, where, and how events took place

**[02:22:17]** things that used to happen or were happening in the past so it's important to not confuse the past simple and past imperfect saying a sentence like Yu Bonito would imply that I was beautiful

> **[on-screen 02:22:26]**
> Yo fui bonito | was beautiful

> **[on-screen 02:22:27]**
> Yo fui bonito | was beautiful ata SPECIFIC TIME

**[02:22:27]** at a specific time in the past which logically doesn't make sense on the other hand saying y erab Bonito means I

> **[on-screen 02:22:32]**
> Yo fui bonito Yo era bonito | was beautiful ata SPECIFIC TIME

> **[on-screen 02:22:33]**
> Yo fui bonito Yo era bonito A l used to be beautiful I was beautiful ata which wasn’t something SPECI FIC Tl M E that specifically happened but rather a trait that was happening in the past

**[02:22:33]** used to be beautiful indicating that it wasn't something that specifically happened but rather a trait that was happening in the past that's the difference between said in the past simple and past imperfect which is a topic that's difficult to understand but the best tip that I can give for understanding said in the imperf perfect is that it means used to be in the past

> **[on-screen 02:22:48]**
> Ser in the imperfect means USED TO BE in the past

**[02:22:49]** and its most common uses are ones that have to do with people for instance saying a sentence like to isud means you

> **[on-screen 02:22:56]**
> Tu eras estudiante You were/used to be astudent

**[02:22:56]** were as in you used to be a student and you're no longer a student now erapid means he was as in he used to be fast

> **[on-screen 02:23:02]**
> El era rapido He was/used to be fast

**[02:23:03]** but he's no longer fast now hopefully I'm making this concept as easy as possible overall this is everything you should know about the imperfect tense but there's still one concept that I need to mention to fully explain the imperfect and it's something that has to do with the verb estar in the beginning

> **[on-screen 02:23:16]**
> Yo hablaba | used to speak | was speaking

**[02:23:16]** of the video I talked about phrases like yo ABA which means I used to speak or I was speaking visually looking at this phrase it sort of makes sense that the phrase would be I used to speak but

> **[on-screen 02:23:25]**
> Yo hablaba | used to speak | was speaking

**[02:23:25]** let's not forget that the imperfect tense also applies to things that were happening in the past looking at the

> **[on-screen 02:23:30]**
> Yo hablaba | was speaking

**[02:23:30]** phrase I was speaking we can see that there's a form of the present progressive in the imperfect due to the construction was with ing while it can

> **[on-screen 02:23:36]**
> Yo hablaba | was speaking

**[02:23:38]** mean I used to speak yo abla signifies I was speaking rather than I used to speak and the only way to understand this concept is through the verb estar by far

> **[on-screen 02:23:46]**
> Estar in the imperfect: (present progressive)

**[02:23:46]** the most useful use ful application of estar in the imperfect is the present progressive saying a sentence like yoa

> **[on-screen 02:23:52]**
> Estar in the imperfect: (present progressive) Yo hablaba | was speaking

**[02:23:52]** can mean I was speaking but another way to write this using the present progressive is y EST derived from the

> **[on-screen 02:23:57]**
> Estar in the imperfect: (present progressive) Yo estaba hablando | was speaking

**[02:23:58]** verb EST and looking at this phrase it makes more sense to use this construction than simply saying yo abla to put it into simpler words yo abla means I was speaking and it can be written as yo esta and it doesn't get more difficult than this some of you

> **[on-screen 02:24:11]**
> Yo estuve hablando | was speaking

**[02:24:11]** might think to use AAR from the past simple by saying y but this would be an

> **[on-screen 02:24:16]**
> Yo esteie hablando | was speaking

**[02:24:16]** incorrect use of estar because the

> **[on-screen 02:24:18]**
> Yo este hablando | was speaking The present progressive is continuous, meaning that it’s happening, and so the imperfect is needed for estar in the present progressive

**[02:24:18]** present progressive is an action that's always continuous even in the past because it's a continuous action meaning that it's happening the imperfect is needed for estan in the present progressive instead of saying y EST we need to say y EST because the action is

> **[on-screen 02:24:31]**
> Yo estaba hablando | was speaking

**[02:24:32]** continuous and the same concept applies to any sentence you want to say for

> **[on-screen 02:24:36]**
> Tu caminabas cada dia

**[02:24:36]** instance saying a sentence like can mean you used to walk every day

> **[on-screen 02:24:40]**
> Tu caminabas cada dia You used to walk every day You were walking every day

**[02:24:41]** or you were walking every day and another way to write this is to

> **[on-screen 02:24:44]**
> Tu estabas caminando cada dia Tu caminabas cada dia You used to walk every day You were walking every day

**[02:24:45]** estas saying a sentence

> **[on-screen 02:24:47]**
> El comia por las mafanas

**[02:24:48]** like means he used to eat or he was

> **[on-screen 02:24:50]**
> El comia por las mafhanas He used to eat in the mornings He was eating in the mornings

**[02:24:51]** eating in the mornings and another way to write this

> **[on-screen 02:24:55]**
> El estaba comiendo por las mafanas El comia por las mahanas He used to eat in the mornings He was eating in the mornings

**[02:24:55]** is saying a sentence like means I used to go to the school or

> **[on-screen 02:25:00]**
> Yo ibaa la escuela | used to go to the school | was going to the school

**[02:25:01]** I was going to the school and with the verb there is no way to rewrite the sentence because doesn't have a form in the present progressive saying a

> **[on-screen 02:25:08]**
> Tu estabas muy feliz

**[02:25:09]** like means you used to be very happy and

> **[on-screen 02:25:10]**
> Tu estabas muy feliz You used to be very happy You were very happy

**[02:25:12]** with the verb estar this would be a correct way to use it because estar in the imperfect has the same appliations as in the present so there isn't really much of a change aside from the way you would use it in the present progressive
