Imperfect Indicative

This is a past tense.  The imperfect tense expresses an action or state of being that was continuous in the past and its completion is not indicated.  It expresses:

1) An action that was going on in the past at the same time as another action

    Mi hermano leía y mi padre hablada. - My brother was reading and my father was talking.

2) An action that was going on in the past when another action occurred

    Mi hermano cantaba cuando yo entré.   My sister was singing when I came in.
(Notice in this sentence that only the action concerning your sister is in the imperfect indicative tense.      Entré   (from the verb entrar - to enter) is in a different tense, called the preterite tense.  This tense is used for actions that were completed in the past.)

3) An action that a person did habitually in the past

    Cuando estábamos en Nueva York, íbamos al cine todos los sábados.  - When we were in New York        we went to the movies every Saturday.

4)  A description of a mental, emotional or physical condition in the past

    Mental condition:        Quería ir al cine. - I wanted to go to the movies.
    Emotional condition: Estaba contento de verlo.  I was happy to see him.
    Physical condition:    Mi madre era hermosa cuando era pequeña.  My mother was beautiful when                                               she was young.

5) The time of day in the past

    Eran las tres. - It was three o'clock.

6) An action that occured in the past and lasted for a certain length of time prior to another past      action

   Haciá tres horas que miraba la televisión cuando mi hermano entró.  - I had been watching television     for three hours when my brother came in. 

6) An indirect quote in the past

   Dijo que quería venir a mi casa. - He said he wanted to come to my house.

(Notice in this sentence that only the action concerning what he wanted is in the imperfect indicative tense.      Dijo (from the verb decir - to say ) is in a different tense, called the preterite tense.  This tense is used for actions that were completed in the past.  Venir is not even conjugated.  It is left in the infinitive case because it means "to come".)

For regular verbs that  in the indicative end in ar you form the imperfect indicative tense by dropping the ar ending and adding the appropriate ending using the chart below.

Verbs that end - ar

Test yourself on the following "-ar" verbs: "comprar - to buy", "llegar - to arrive" and "trabajar - to work".  Once you think you know the answer place your cursor over the box and drag it to the right to reveal the answer.

For regular verbs that  in the indicative end in er you form the imperfect indicative tense by dropping the er ending and adding the appropriate ending using the chart below.

Verbs that end - er

Test yourself on the following "-er" verbs: "aprender - to learn", "beber - to drink" and "leer  - to read".  Once you think you know the answer place your cursor over the box and drag it to the right to reveal the answer.

For regular verbs that  in the indicative end in ir you form the imperfect indicative tense by dropping the ir ending and adding the appropriate ending using the chart below.

Verbs that end - ir

Test yourself on the following "-ir" verbs: "escribir - to write", "recibir - to receive" and "vivir - to live".  Once you think you know the answer place your cursor over the box and drag it to the right to reveal the answer.

Notice that regular verbs that end in -er and regular verbs that end in -ir you form the imperfect indicative tense of the verb using the same endings.