Spanish Verb Tenses: Some Uses of the Imperfect Tense

Not sure if it's "gustó" or "gustaba"? Should I use "visitó" or "visitaba"? Referring to past events in Spanish can be confusing while learning the language, but luckily there are rules and patterns to guide you. There are many different occasions when to use the imperfect tense let's just take a few for now. The simple past or preterite tense, for the most part, is meant for actions that you wish to clearly state began and ended in the past. The imperfect tense is used more for ongoing occurrences or a conditional state. With this tense it is not the speaker's intention to frame a beginning and end. Here are some ways to use the imperfect tense.


I. Regular Occurrences, Something that Happened on a Habitual Basis: "Used to + Verb", "Would + Verb"

If you wished to explain to someone that your niece visited you every summer you could say it three different ways in English. "My niece used to visit me every summer" or "My niece would visit me every summer" or "My niece visited me every summer". They all have the same meaning and again there is no mention of which summers or how many. The speaker only wishes to focus on the fact that her niece visited her on a regular basis. In Spanish luckily there is one way to say this and that is by using the imperfect verb tense. "Mi sobrina me visitaba todos los veranos." Look at these examples:

· We used to go to the movies every Saturday = Ibámos al cine todos los sábados.

· I would have breakfast every morning before going to work. = Desayunaba cada mañana antes de ir al trabajo.

· Her granddaughter called her twice a week. = Su nieta la llamaba dos veces por semana.


II. More than One Action that Occurs at the Same Time

Use the imperfect tense to describe more than one action that occurs at the same time. For example, "My mother washed the dishes while I cleaned the table," would be, "Mi mamá fregaba mientras limpiaba la mesa." Notice how I have not used "yo" in this article so far. Remember that you can omit pronouns as long as the speaker understands to whom you are referring. Here are more examples of using the imperfect tense to describe multiple actions occurring at the same time.

· My wife cooked while I cleaned. = Mi esposa cocinaba mientras limpiaba.

· She slept while I worked. = Dormía mientras trabajaba.

· They were at the movies while we were at the baseball game. = Estaban en el cine mientras estábamos en el partido de beísbol.

Note you can also use the imperfect progressive tense for simultaneous actions too. The last sentence above is not at action rather a state of being/conditional state. · Mi esposa estaba cocinando mientras estaba limpiando.· Estaba durmiendo mientras estaba trabajando.

III. Narrating: Another Form of Describing Simultaneous Actions

We use a combination of both imperfect and simple past to describe an action that was in progress while another began. In English this would be, "Ricardo was talking on the phone when Marta arrived." Notice in English we must use the past progressive for the action in progress "was talking". In Spanish we use either imperfect or imperfect progressive then the simple past, "Ricardo estaba hablando por teléfono cuando llegó Marta," or you can say, "Ricardo hablaba por teléfono cuando llegó Marta."

· We were watching television when we heard a loud noise. = Estábamos viendo/Veíamos televisión cuando oímos un sonido fuerte.

· I was taking a shower when the electricity went out. = Estaba tomando/Tomaba una ducha cuando se fue la luz.

· He was sleeping when the dog woke him up. = Estaba durmiendo/Dormía cuando lo despertó el perro.


IV. Ongoing State or Condition

A state or condition of something in the past has a beginning but there is no description of the end. There are several verbs that are used in these cases. For example, if you describe something you liked this refers to a state, the state of feeling an adoration towards something or someone. In English we use the simple past, but in Spanish we use the imperfect past.

· I liked going to the beach when I was young. = Me gustaba ir a la playa cuando era joven.

· We had three dogs when we lived at that house. = Teníamos tres perros cuando vivíamos en esa casa. ("To have" is an ongoing state of possessing something.)

· I wanted to go to the movies, but she wanted to go out to eat. = Quería ir al cine, pero ella quería salir a cenar.

· It seemed like he was upset. = Parecía que estaba enojado.

· I preferred to stay home. = Prefería quedarme en casa.

· I knew he worked there. = Sabía que trabajaba allí.

Special Note: Some Spanish verbs can have different meanings in the past. The verb "saber" can mean either to know something or how something tastes.

· The food tasted strange. = La comida sabía rara.

Here is a list of some common verbs that are used to describe an ongoing state or condition in the past. I did not conjugate the verbs. My only intention here is to provide a reference of verbs in order to know their use in the imperfect tense.

· Entender = "understood"

· Comprender = "understood"

· Creer = "believed"

· Encantar = "loved", "really liked"

· Existir = "existed"

· Fascinar = "loved", "really liked"

· Gustar = "liked"

· Necesitar = "needed"

· Odiar = "hated"

· Oler = "smelled like" (not the act of smelling something)

· Parecer = "seemed like"

· Pensar = "thought" (believing)

· Preferir = "preferred"

· Querer = "wanted"

· Saber = "knew something", "tasted like"

· Ser/Estar = "was"

· Tener = "had"

V. "Could" and "Had to" in the Past

In English it is straight forward, use the simple past, but in Spanish there are two ways to use "could" and "had to" in the past. Put verbs "poder" or the verbal phrase "tener que" in the imperfect tense to refer to something that was about to happen or hadn't been resolved yet.

· Marcos called the mechanic because he couldn't fix his car. = Marcos le llamó al mecánico porque no podía arreglar su carro. (This sentence refers to the time period before the car eventually got fixed.)

· The mechanic fixed Marco's car because he couldn't do it himself (figure out how to fix it himself). = El mecánico arregló el carro de Marcos porque no pudo hacerlo sí mismo. (This one refers to the time period after the car had been fixed.)

· We called Susana last night to invite to the movies, but she said she had to work. = Anoche llamamos a Susana para invitarla al cine, pero dijo que tenía que trabajar. (This refers to the moment when they asked her to go and she explained that she was soon going to work.)

· Susana didn't go to the movies because she had to work. = Susana no fue al cine porque tuvo que trabajar. (This refers to the time afterwards when the speaker is reporting what happened. It is implied that Susana had already gone to work whereas the first sentence refers to the moment in time before Susana worked.)

VI. Describing Ongoing Actions without Reference to Beginning or End

Use the imperfect or imperfect progressive tense to refer to actions that were ongoing, but that you don't wish to focus on their beginning and ending. Your words paint a visual picture in the listener's head. If you want them to visualize that the action started and ended you would use the simple past in Spanish. If you would rather the listener visualize the action was ongoing while adding more detail about the situation then use the imperfect or imperfect progressive plus the simple past.

- I was cooking dinner and saw a bug in the food. = Estaba preparando la cena y vio un insecto en la comida. (I was in the middle of cooking when something happened. You can actually picture the whole sequence of events.)

- I cooked, ate, watched TV, then left. = Cociné, comí, vio la televisión, después salí. (I am referring to events that began and ended. I am not describing an ongoing action.)


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Rick is not a professor, he does not have a PHD rather he is self-taught and learned fluent Spanish on his own without the help of classes. If you study Spanish as a hobby or wish to improve your test scores his easy-to-understand manner will help you. He does not have a blog now but recommends reading Jean Yates books.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/160303.Jean_Yates


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