Imperfect indicative past tense: its forms and uses with examples

was, was going y saw. Remember those words when conjugate the pretérito imperfecto of the verb to be, the imperfect preterite of the verb to go and the verb see. the verbo ver is considered semi-irregular since in reality it maintains the endings of the verbs that end in -er and maintains the root ve-. 

And what about the imperfect past tense of the verb estar?

In many times it is usually irregular.

Well, you're in luck, here the verb estar is regular: I was, you were, she was...

My goodness, how easy!

Imperfect indicative past tense: Uses 

As you have seen, conjugate the verbs in the past imperfect regular y their verbs it is not complicated at all.

Now let's take a look at what is it used for pretérito imperfecto.

Prepare yourself well because this time has a lot of uses. 😀

Talk about an inaccurate past

Un not exact past it means that we are talking about a non-concrete past, not specific in time. We do not know the exact moment. It doesn't matter when, but the action.

And how do we know when it is a non-exact past?

For that we have the fabulous keywords: 

• Before.
• In the past.
• When I was little/ when I lived in Argentina/ When I went to school…
• As a child / as a young person / as a child.
• At the time of my grandparents...
• Long time.

For example:

• Before I ate worse than now.
• In the past, people did not have social networks.
• When I was little I used to play with my friends in the park.

Describe both people and places or situations in the past 

This is a use of the past imperfect very relevant, as it is often used for description.

For describe people or places, the most common verbs are the following:

• Be was
• be - was
• have - had
• have - had
• like – liked
• carry - carried

For example:

• When I was little my father was very thin.
• joseph before I had a very slow computer. Now he has a more powerful one.
• in my old building había few neighbors.

We can also use other verbs to describe a situation:

For example:

• At the party, the people entered y went out non-stop.

Talk about habits in the past

Another very important use is that of habits in the past.

The music is taken from actions that are repeated in the pastlike a routine.

We also have keywords that express habits:

• Always almost always.
• Many times / rarely / sometimes.
• Often.
• Usually.
• Frequently / Frequently.
• Every day / every day.
• On weekends / every Saturday.
• The verb soler (used) + infinitive.
• Etc.

For example:

• Before, when I finished my classes, always went home for lunch.
• Last year, often you trained in the gym. Now you never go.
• A few years ago, Mary every day he woke up too early to go to work.
• you before you used to walk every afternoon. Why don't you do it now?

Talk about the time an action happened   

We also use this time to emphasize the time when something happened.

This is often used by writers of novels or poetry because it gives it a more lyrical touch. 

For example:

• it was eleven o'clock at night when a strange noise was heard in the house above.

Although it can also be used in everyday contextsianyou. Actually, we are giving a descriptive touch to time. 

For example:

• It was 18.00:XNUMX p.m. when the class finished.
  

Talk about the age at which an action was performed

we can express age in which a specific action was carried out.  

For example:

• When I was 17 years old, I finished my high school studies.
• When Mark was 10 years old, one day he fell off his bike and did a lot of damage.

We can also talk about a habit at that age.

For example:

• When we were 20 years old, We used to party a lot.
• When I was 12 years, every weekend I went to the beach in summer.

Describe the weather at a time in the past

More descriptions?

Of course yes. 😀

El imperfect indicative It is the most detailed time of all.

also can describe the weather from a moment in the past.

For example:

• When I entered college, it was raining much.
• Yesterday morning it was cold.
• After the rain, the sky It was clear completely.

Present the cause that moves an action 

We use the imperfect indicative to present the cause that originates an action in the past.

Do you know the causal connectors?

There are many, I tell you some:

• Why.
• Because.
• Because of what.
• Like (always goes to the beginning).

Better if we see them with some examples?

Of course!

For example:

• Was late for the appointment because I couldn't find parking space.
• He was often quiet because the teachers were very hard on him.
• How could I go shopping, he sent his son.

Present an action that is in progress and is interrupted by another more immediate action

Has it ever happened to you that you are at home studyingiando with a lot of concentration and suddenly someone calls you on the phone?

Oh! Your study has been interrupted.

The pretérito imperfecto can be used to express this. We call it the past imperfect interrupted.

It always consists of two verbs:

• The action in progress in the past – past imperfect.
• The action that interrupts in the past – past indefinite or past perfect.

The action that interrupts will be with pretérito indefinido if it happens in a exact past.

On the contrary, we will use the present perfect when we talk about recent actions.

There are words to connect the action in process with the action that interrupts. They are mainly the following:

• When
• And suddenly,
• And so,

I show you with examples and this way you will understand it much better:

• Yesterday, when iba down the street, a dog barked at me.
• This morning I prepared my breakfast and suddenly, A bird has entered Through the window.
• The other day, was driving by the road and so, a rabbit He crossed.

You see it? In the three examples there are two actions: the past imperfect as an action in process and the P. Indefinite or P. Perfect as an action that interrupts.

oh! She forgot me.

In the action in progress it is also very common to use the form of estar + gerund in imperfect: was + gerund.

For example:

• yesterday when I was walking down the street, a dog barked at me.
• This morning I was preparing my breakfast and suddenly a bird has come through the window.

Activities to practice past imperfect 

So far the uses of the imperfect past in this article.

But do you know what?

There is still more. 😍

Want to hear them all?

En Hispania, escuela de español, we offer Spanish courses in person y online Spanish courses where will you learn ALL about the imperfect past tense. 

We are a Spanish school accredited by the Cervantes Institute and one of the most premiall over the world. Tea We guarantee quality teaching.

But the article does not end here. 

Next, we suggest you practice the past imperfect with exercises of different kinds.

Enjoy them! 

Tell me in comments how it went. 😉

Activity 1: relaylenar gaps with sentences 

In the following activity you write the correct form of the imperfect past of the verbs in brackets.