Table of Contents |
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| 1. The Imperfect Tense (Imperfect Preterite) | 2. The Conjugation of the Imperfect Preterite |
| 3. Examples of Imperfect Tense | 4. Modalities of Imperfect Tense |
The imperfect preterite, usually known as copreterite in Spanish, has the function of making known facts from past events but with this case it can be observed that a specific beginning and end is not achieved in the midst of this use.
The conjugation of the imperfect preterite or copreterite is achieved by eliminating the endings -er, -ir from the verbs and adding in their place -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían, as these endings -ar are replaced by -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Let's see the following table.
Soñar (dream) Romper (Break) Dormir (Sleep) Yo Soñaba (I was dreaming) Rompía (I was breaking) Dormía (I was sleeping) Tú Soñabas (You were dreaming) Rompías (You were braking) Dormías (You were sleeping) Él/Ella Soñaba (He/she was dreaming) Rompía (He/she was breaking) Dormía (He was sleeping) Nosotros Soñábamos (We were dreaming) Rompíamos (We were breaking) Dormíamos (We were sleeping) Vosotros Soñabais (You were dreaming) Rompíais (You were breaking) Dormíais (You were sleeping) Ellos/Ellas Soñaron (They were dreaming) Rompían (They were breaking) Dormían (They were sleeping)
The scenarios in which this verb tense is used are characterized by five modalities or situations in general, these are, for actions that were habitually repeated, actions that were being executed in the past, to define ages that were had long ago, to give out dates and times and finally, to give descriptions, conditions or feelings that were once had.
