Spanish grammar
Spanish imperfect tense: hablaba, era, iba and its uses
The imperfect is the Spanish past for things that used to happen or were simply true for a while: de niño vivía en México, cuando era niño. It is the easiest tense to form, with only three irregular verbs (ser, ir, ver), and even tener and poder are regular here. The catch is that the yo and él/ella forms are identical, so the subject has to come from a pronoun, a name or the context.
In short
- -ar verbs take -aba: hablaba, hablabas, hablaba, hablábamos, hablaban. Only nosotros carries an accent.
- -er and -ir verbs take -ía on every form: tenía, tenías, tenía, teníamos, tenían.
- Only three verbs are irregular: ser (era, eras, éramos, eran), ir (iba, ibas, íbamos, iban) and ver (veía, veías, veíamos, veían).
- The yo and él/ella forms are identical, so Spanish often keeps the pronoun: yo hablaba, ella hablaba.
- Use it for habits, background and states in the past: de niño vivía en México, quería ir pero no podía.
Hablaba — a past for things that kept happening
«hablaba» is the imperfect: a past for things you used to do again and again, or that were simply true for a while, not one finished action. One trick the whole tense runs on: «yo hablaba» (I used to speak) and «él/ella/usted hablaba» (he, she or you used to speak) are the exact same word. Nothing on the verb tells you who; only a pronoun, a name or the context does. Never trust the ending alone in this tense.
Yo hablaba español todos los días
I used to speak Spanish every day
De niño, él hablaba español siempre
As a child, he used to speak Spanish all the time
De niño, Ana hablaba español siempre
As a child, Ana used to speak Spanish all the time
Yo hablaba español en la escuela
I used to speak Spanish at school
De niño, yo siempre hablaba español con Ana
As a child, I always used to speak Spanish with Ana
De niño, hablaba español todos los días
As a child, I used to speak Spanish every day
Hablábamos, hablaban — the rest of hablar's imperfect
«hablábamos» is we used to speak — the one -ar imperfect form with an accent, always on nosotros. «hablaban» is they used to speak, or you all used to speak — no accent. «hablabas» is you (tú) used to speak — no accent either. Three more pieces of the same -aba family as «hablaba».
Tú hablabas español de niño
You (tú) used to speak Spanish as a child
Ellos hablaban español en la escuela
They used to speak Spanish at school
Hablábamos juntos todos los días
We used to speak together every day
Todos hablaban mucho en la fiesta
Everyone used to talk a lot at the party
De niños, hablábamos y ellos hablaban también
As children, we used to speak and they used to speak too
De niños, hablábamos mucho en la escuela
As children, we used to speak a lot at school
Era — ser's imperfect, same collision
«era» is I was, and also he, she or you (usted) were: the same collision as «hablaba», one word for two people, and only the subject tells you which. «eras» is you (tú) were, no accent. Use «era» for description and identity in the past: what someone was like, who they were.
Yo era muy bueno de niño
I was very good as a child
Tú eras muy bueno de niño
You (tú) were very good as a child
De niño, Ana era muy buena
As a child, Ana was very good
Él era muy bueno de niño
He was very good as a child
De niño, Diego era muy bueno
As a child, Diego was very good
Iba — ir's imperfect, same collision, one more
«iba» is I used to go, and also he, she or you used to go, the same collision as «hablaba» and «era». No accent, like «era». The whole family: «ibas» (tú), «íbamos» (we, the one accented form of ir), «iban» (they, you all).
Yo iba a la escuela temprano
I used to go to school early
Íbamos a la escuela juntos
We used to go to school together
Todos iban al parque siempre
Everyone always used to go to the park
Diego iba a la escuela temprano
Diego used to go to school early
De niño, iba a la escuela temprano
As a child, I used to go to school early
Veía — the same collision, but every form is accented
«veía» is I used to watch, and also he, she or you used to watch, the same collision again. What is new: ver is an -er verb, and -er and -ir verbs accent EVERY imperfect form, not just nosotros. «veía», «veías», «veíamos», «veían» all carry the accent.
Yo veía películas en el cine
I used to watch movies at the movie theater
Veíamos películas juntos en el cine
We used to watch movies together at the movie theater
Todos veían películas siempre
Everyone always used to watch movies
Diego veía películas en el cine
Diego used to watch movies at the movie theater
Éramos una familia, y todos eran buenos amigos
We were a family, and everyone was good friends
Veíamos películas en el cine
We used to watch movies at the movie theater
Tenía — the last collision, and tener is regular here
«tenía» is I had, and also he, she or you had: the same collision as «hablaba», «era», «iba» and «veía». Tener is an -er verb, so every form is accented: «tenía», «tenías», «teníamos», «tenían». And the good news: tener is completely REGULAR in the imperfect, nothing like the present «tengo» or the preterite «tuve». It is just the -ía family, like any other -er verb.
Yo tenía muchos amigos de niño
I used to have a lot of friends as a child
Teníamos muchos amigos siempre
We always used to have a lot of friends
Todos tenían muchos amigos
Everyone used to have a lot of friends
Diego tenía una casa grande
Diego used to have a big house
De niño, Ana no era muy buena
As a child, Ana wasn't very good
¿Cuántos años tenías?
How old were you?
Estaba — the imperfect trick, generalized
The imperfect keeps being the easy tense. «tenía» was regular even though «tengo» and «tuve» are not, and «estaba», «hacía», «quería», «podía» and «venía» are the same story: regular -aba and -ía forms on verbs that misbehave elsewhere. «de niño, estaba mucho en casa», as a child I was at home a lot. «estaba» is location or state; «era» is identity or description.
Yo estaba en casa de niño
I was at home as a child
Estábamos en casa juntos
We were home together
De niños, todos estaban en casa
As children, everyone was at home
Diego estaba en casa temprano
Diego was at home early
De niño, estaba mucho en casa
As a child, I was home a lot
Podía — the payoff: quería, pero no podía
«podía» is I could/was able to, he/she/you could — poder's imperfect, regular here unlike present «puedo». Every form keeps the accent, like «quería». Now that both exist: «quería ir a la fiesta, pero no podía» — wanted to but couldn't, sayable for the first time.
Yo quería ir a la fiesta, pero no podía
I wanted to go to the party, but I couldn't
Queríamos ir a la fiesta, pero no podíamos
We wanted to go to the party, but we couldn't
De niños, todos querían ir, pero no podían
As children, everyone wanted to go, but they couldn't
Diego quería ir, pero no podía
Diego wanted to go, but he couldn't
Quería ir a la fiesta, pero no podía
I wanted to go to the party, but I couldn't
Check yourself
Questions from the course. Pick an answer to check it; nothing is saved.
1.Which one means 'he used to speak'?
2.Which one means 'you (tú) used to speak'?
3.Which one means 'you (tú) were'?
4.Which one means 'you (tú) used to go'?
5.Which one means 'you (tú) used to see'?
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