Spanish Regular Imperfect Tense
Master the regular imperfect tense in Spanish: the two ending families, when to use it, and a speaking quiz that grades your pronunciation in real time.
Learning objectives
By the end of this guide you will be able to:
- Identify any regular Spanish verb’s conjugation family (
-ar,-er, or-ir) - Conjugate any regular verb in the imperfect for all six grammatical persons
- Recognize the trigger words that signal the imperfect tense in a sentence
- Pronounce all six forms of any regular imperfect conjugation, graded by your microphone
- Distinguish the imperfect (ongoing, repeated past) from the preterite (single, completed past)
TL;DR
The Spanish imperfect tense describes repeated, habitual, or ongoing actions in the past. To form it, you drop the infinitive’s last two letters and add one of two ending sets: the -ar set or the shared -er / -ir set. There are only three irregulars in the entire tense (ir, ser, ver), and this guide focuses on the regulars.
Glossary
- imperfecto The Spanish past tense for ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions. Translates to English “used to ___” or “was ___ing”.
- pretérito The Spanish past tense for single, completed actions at a specific moment. Translates to English simple past, “I ___ed”.
-
infinitivo The unconjugated dictionary form of a verb. In Spanish, every infinitive ends in
-ar,-er, or-ir. -
raíz (stem) What is left of an infinitive after you drop the final
-ar,-er, or-ir. Forhablar, the stem ishabl-. - terminación (ending) The conjugated suffix you attach to the stem. The imperfect has six per family, one per grammatical person.
- conjugar To attach the right ending to a stem so the verb agrees with its subject (yo, tú, él, nosotros, vosotros, ellos).
Imperfect vs preterite, the big idea
Spanish has two simple past tenses, and choosing between them is the single hardest grammar decision in the language. The rule is easier than students think.
The two ending families
Every regular Spanish verb falls into exactly one of two imperfect conjugation patterns. The pattern is decided by the last two letters of the infinitive.
Pattern 1: -ar verbs
For any verb ending in -ar, drop the -ar and add: aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban.
| Pronoun | Ending | Example with hablar (to speak) |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -aba | hablaba (I used to speak) |
| tú | -abas | hablabas (you used to speak) |
| él / ella / usted | -aba | hablaba (he/she/you used to speak) |
| nosotros | -ábamos | hablábamos (we used to speak) |
| vosotros | -abais | hablabais (you all used to speak) |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -aban | hablaban (they/you all used to speak) |
Pattern 2: -er and -ir verbs (shared)
For any verb ending in -er or -ir, drop the -er or -ir and add: ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían.
The two families share the same endings, so once you know one, you know both.
| Pronoun | Ending | comer (to eat) | vivir (to live) |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | -ía | comía | vivía |
| tú | -ías | comías | vivías |
| él / ella / usted | -ía | comía | vivía |
| nosotros | -íamos | comíamos | vivíamos |
| vosotros | -íais | comíais | vivíais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -ían | comían | vivían |
Conjugation Lab
Type any regular Spanish infinitive below. The lab detects the -ar, -er, or -ir family, drops the ending, and applies the right pattern across all six persons.
When to use the imperfect
The imperfect tense follows a small set of trigger words and phrases. Spotting one of these in a sentence is your green light to use the imperfect.
| Spanish trigger | English equivalent | What it signals |
|---|---|---|
| siempre | always | Habitual action |
| todos los días | every day | Recurring action |
| cuando era niño / niña | when I was a child | Past habitual state |
| muchas veces | many times | Repeated action |
| a menudo | often | Frequency without a specific count |
| mientras | while | Two ongoing actions in parallel |
| de niño / de joven | as a child / as a young person | Past life stage |
| los lunes (any weekday) | on Mondays | Habitual weekly schedule |
Worked example: vivir
Practice
Q Conjugate caminar (to walk) in the imperfect for nosotros.
caminábamos. Drop -ar to get the stem camin-, then add the -ar nosotros ending -ábamos. Note the stress mark.
Q Conjugate aprender (to learn) in the imperfect for ellos.
aprendían. Drop -er to get the stem aprend-, then add the shared er/ir ellos ending -ían.
Q Conjugate escribir (to write) in the imperfect for yo.
escribía. Drop -ir to get the stem escrib-, then add the shared er/ir yo ending -ía.
Q Translate: 'They used to drink coffee every morning.'
Ellos bebían café cada mañana. The trigger phrase is “every morning”, which signals habitual action, so the imperfect of beber is required.
Q Translate: 'We were studying while she sang.'
Nosotros estudiábamos mientras ella cantaba. Two ongoing actions in parallel both take the imperfect; mientras is the giveaway.
Order the conjugation
Drag the six forms of hablar into the correct order, from yo to ellos.
From yo through ellos / ellas / ustedes.
- hablaba (yo)
- hablaba (él / ella / usted)
- hablábamos (nosotros)
- hablabais (vosotros)
- hablabas (tú)
- hablaban (ellos / ellas / ustedes)
Quiz
For each prompt, type the correct imperfect form in Spanish. Use the accent buttons under the input for á, é, í, ó, ú, ñ. Per-question grading shows the canonical answer and any spelling slips. Take it as many times as you want, and at the end you can drill only the ones you missed.
Speaking quiz
For each prompt, click the microphone and say the correct imperfect form out loud in Spanish. The system grades each answer the moment you finish speaking. You can retry as many times as you want, and at the end you can drill only the ones you missed.
▸ Cannot use the mic? Type instead.
Flashcards
A traditional flip-card deck for the 12 endings plus a few sample conjugations. Sign in to track your spaced repetition across devices.
Imperfect endings and sample conjugations
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Memorize the rule
Train yourself to recall the rule cold, with no prompts. Use the cloze and cold-recall modes to lock the pattern into long-term memory.
The regular imperfect rule
Heads-up: only three irregulars
Mnemonics
- “-ar wears a B, -er and -ir wear a stripe”: every
-arimperfect ending has abin it (aba, abas, …). Every-er/-irimperfect ending has a written accent on theí. - “Only nosotros gets the hat”: in the
-arfamily, only thenosotrosform has an accent (ábamos). Everywhere else in-ar, no accent. - “-er and -ir are twins”: they share their endings exactly. Memorize one, and you know both.
Common pitfalls
Cheat sheet
-ar (drop -ar) | -er / -ir (drop -er / -ir) | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | -aba | -ía |
| tú | -abas | -ías |
| él / ella / usted | -aba | -ía |
| nosotros | -ábamos | -íamos |
| vosotros | -abais | -íais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | -aban | -ían |