The Spanish Imperfecto: when and how to use it (15 real examples)

The Spanish pretérito imperfecto (imperfect) tense is a useful tense we use to talk about things in the past.

It differs in a few ways from the pretérito perfecto and pretérito indefinido in that it is mostly used as a descriptive tense or to talk about habitual actions in the past.

Once you're comfortable with it, the Pretérito pluscuamperfecto is the natural next step for talking about actions that happened before another past event.

Speakeasy BCN is a leading Spanish language school in Barcelona offering a range of immersive Spanish courses. Our students find the imperfecto a little harder to learn than other tenses – we hope the guide below helps!

We teach the imperfecto as part of our A2.2 curriculum - currently taught at B1.1 and moving to A2.2 as we align our course levels with the DELE A2 exam. You'll meet it in week 1 of our intensive course, week 1 of our semi-intensive course, and week 2 of our evening course, and it's a natural fit for DELE A2 exam preparation.

Not sure what level you're at? Take our free online level test – it takes about 10 minutes.

When do you use imperfecto?

The Spanish imperfecto can be used to talk about repeated actions, or habits, in the past. We use it, above all, for its descriptive abilities of actions in the past. In contrast with the other preterite (past) tenses, the imperfecto makes no reference to a specific time in which the action in the past happened or was happening. The five main uses of the imperfecto in Spanish are to:

• talk about a habitual state, event or action in the past

• describe something in the past (people, places, objects, emotions)

• give details about the circumstances of an action that took place (where, when, how, why… something took place)

• show that two events were taking place simultaneously in the past

• provide a background or set a scene in a narrative (storytelling)

How do you form the imperfecto?

The formation of Spanish verbs in imperfecto is quite straightforward. Unlike the pretérito indefinido, there are few irregular conjugations. For regular verbs ending in -AR, the endings all include aba plus the particular endings for each person. For verbs ending in -ER and -IR, all of the new endings include ía.

*Note that the conjugations for yo, él, ella and usted, are the same (yo comía, ella comía).

The following are the only irregular conjugations for the verbs ser, ir, and ver:

Examples of imperfecto in use

We will now go over the five main uses of imperfecto mentioned above.

talk about a habitual state, event or action in the past

Íbamos al Park Güell todos los días en verano.
We used to go to Park Güell every day in summer.

De niña, mi madre me leía libros antes de dormir.
As a girl, my mother read books to me before going to sleep.

Cuando era estudiante, siempre estudiaba en la biblioteca por la tarde.
When I was a student, I always studied in the library in the afternoon.

Both examples above show events or actions that happened habitually. It is possible to translate the imperfecto to English in many different ways. In the second sentence, for example, you could say “my mother read“, “my mother would read“, or “my mother used to read“. It all depends on the context. Usually, adverbs or expressions of frequency such as frecuentamente, todos los días, siempre, nunca are a good indicator that we should use the imperfecto.

describe something in the past (people, places, objects, emotions)

Here, there is no reference to a specific time. It could be “in the past”, “when I was young” etc. In this use, you describe something that does not change, at least not for a long time. When “Yolanda was 6 years” old refers to the period of that time she was aged 6, not the moment she turned 6.

A los 6 años Yolanda era muy tímida y no tenía muchos amigos.
At 6 years old, Yolanda was very shy and didn’t have many friends.

Nuestra casa antigua tenía dos plantas.
Our old house had two floors.

El piso era pequeño pero tenía mucha luz y un balcón con vistas.
The flat was small but it had lots of light and a balcony with views.

give details about the circumstances of an action that took place in the past (where, when, how, why… something took place)

Su vuelo fue anulado porque había una tormenta muy fuerte.
Their flight was cancelled because there was a very bad storm. (why)

Cruzábamos el Passeig de Gràcia donde estaba la Casa Batlló.
We were crossing Passeig de Gràcia where the Casa Batlló was. (where)

Vi a Víctor cuando estaba en La Boquería.
I saw Víctor when I was at La Boquería. (when)

No salíamos porque llovía muchísimo.
We didn't go out because it was raining a lot. (why)

show that two events were taking place simultaneously in the past

Ella trabajaba mientras otros estudiaban.
She worked while others studied. OR She was working while others were studying.

Mientras dormía, mi madre cocinaba la cena.
While I slept, my mother cooked dinner. OR While I was sleeping, my mom was cooking dinner.

Yo cocinaba mientras mi compañero de piso ponía la mesa.
I was cooking while my flatmate set the table.

In English, it is very common to describe a continuous action in the past with an “ing” verb. For example, “I was reading while my friend was talking to me”. In Spanish, the nature of the imperfecto tense implies that something was happening. Therefore, for Spanish speakers, it’s more common to say “Yo leía mientras mi amiga me hablaba.”

describe or provide a background in a narrative

Era un precioso día. Los rayos del sol atravesaban nuestras cortinas cerradas por la mañana.
It was a precious day. The sun’s rays passed through our closed curtains in the morning.

La niña se llamaba Catarina y tenía cinco hermanos.
The girl was called Catarina and she had 5 brothers.

Era tarde, las calles estaban vacías y no se oía ningún ruido.
It was late, the streets were empty and not a sound could be heard.

Setting a narrative scene for a story is an important part of writing. Just as you would set a scene in English (It was a dark and stormy night…), you do the same in Spanish.

Ready to put this into practice?

The best way to make the imperfecto feel natural is to use it out loud, in context, with people who'll correct you kindly. That's what we do every day at our school in the heart of Barcelona:

• Fast and focused? Our intensive 20h course covers a lot of ground each week.

• Balancing study with life here? The semi-intensive 10h course keeps steady momentum.

• Working or busy by day? Our evening course fits Spanish around your schedule.

Not sure where you'd fit? Take our free online level test, or browse all our Spanish courses to compare formats and pacing.