Topic:
Learn to form the conjugation of the imperfect tense for -er and -ir verbs.
Attention: Milestone Ahead!
It is time for another lesson, and yet another set of verb endings. I know this process can seem like an insurmountable challenge at times. But stay strong just a little big longer, because we are approaching a major milestone in your efforts.
When you finish this lesson, you will have learned to make the conjugated forms of all regular verbs in the Present Tense, the Preterite Tense, and the Imperfect Tense.
And those "big three" tenses will get you a very long way in understanding written and spoken Spanish.
Imperfect -er and -ir Use the Same Endings
Just as we saw in the preterite tense, the imperfect tense has a shared set of endings for both -er and -ir verbs.
Even better, just like the -ar endings you just learned, these are relatively simple to remember.
So let's get to the details...
Forming the Imperfect for -er and -ir Verbs
These verb endings all begin with -ía, and they match the usual endings otherwise. Note that the accented í appears in every instance.
To illustrate, we will use the verb tener, or to have.
This very common verb has been notably absent in the exercises so far, because it is irregular in the present and the preterite tense. For example, you likely already know that I have is Yo tengo. But that is a topic for a future unit.
Right now, we will look at the conjugations for the verb tener, which is a regular -er verb in the imperfect tense.
Imperfect Conjugation of tener
Easy Enough, Right?
Sure, it's yet another set of endings, but at least they are simple.
Each ending starts with -ía and then adds a final part depending on which pronoun it is for.
If you are still unsure, check some of the outside resources below the lesson.
An Example Sentence
A common use for the imperfect tense of tener is when talking about how old someone was in the past. In Spanish, to state someone's age, we actually say that they "have" however many years.
In this case, we're talking about someone's age in the past. Let's translate He was 20 years old when we met. In Spanish, the literal translation is more like He had 20 years when we met.
Tenía veinte años cuando nos conocimos.
Since the 1st person and 3rd person singular are identical in the imperfect tense, that exact same sentence could also mean I was 20 years old when we met! As before, context is the key to knowing which meaning the speaker intended.
Tenses Mixed and Matched
Notice also that we used two different past tenses in that sentence. Tenía is in the imperfect tense, while conocimos is in the preterite tense.
That makes sense if you think about it. We met is something that happened at a particular moment in time, so we use conocimos in the preterite tense. But the man's age is more of a state of being. It is something that didn't happen at a specific moment. So we use tenía in the imperfect.
You have probably already seen examples of sentences like that in the exercises.
As usual, let's get a second example verb just to make sure you understand the pattern.
This time we will use an -ir verb, vivir, which means to live.
Imperfect Conjugation of vivir
Another Example
How about We lived in Denver for many years.?
The Spanish version would be Vivíamos en Denver por muchos años.
Congratulations!
As I said at the beginning of this lesson, this is really a significant milestone in your progress.
Sure, you may not have everything committed to memory just yet, but that's what the exercises here at VerbMaestro are intended to help with.
With enough practice, forming the correct conjugation becomes automatic. So spend some time on the exercises for this lesson before moving on.
Additional Study Resources
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On to the Exercises and the Quiz
To practice the verb forms in this lesson, click Practice Exercises below.
Whenever you want, you can take the quiz for this lesson.
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