Chapter 8 -- One Way of Expressing Past Time
The verb forms which express who, what, and when are made by adding different endings to the stems.
We begin our study of the verbs with the Imperfect Past Tense, because this tense has very few irregular forms, and is the most regular of all the tenses in Spanish.
The Imperfect Past Tense is used to describe an action that started in the past, continued for an unspecified time, and is now over.
In English, this tense is most commonly expressed by using “used to”, “would”, or the form such as “was talking”.
In Spanish, there are two sets of endings, one set for verb group 1, and one set for verb groups 2 and 3, which are added to the verb stems.
In group 1, the endings are: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban
Group 1 regular verbs example: parar, to stop (the stem is par-)
Stem Ending Spanish English
| par aba | yo paraba | I used to stop, was stopping |
| par abas | tú parabas | You (familiar, singular) used to stop, were stopping |
| par aba | él paraba | He used to stop, was stopping |
| par aba | ella paraba | She used to stop, was stopping |
| par aba | usted paraba | You (polite, singular) used to stop, were stopping |
| par aba | quién paraba | Who used to stop, was stopping |
| par ábamos | nosotras, - os parábamos | We used to stop, were stopping |
| par abais | vosotras, - os parabais | You (familiar, plural) used to stop, were stopping |
| par aban | ellas, - os paraban | They used to stop, were stopping |
| par aban | ustedes paraban | You (polite, plural) used to stop, were stopping |
| par aban | quienes paraban | Who used to stop, were stopping |
In group 1, there are no irregular verbs.
In groups 2 and 3, the endings are -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
Group 2 regular verbs example: comer, to eat (the stem is com-)
Stem Ending Spanish English
| com | ía | yo | comía | I used to eat, was eating |
| com | ías | tú | comías | You (familiar, singular) used to eat, were eating |
| com | ía | él | comía | He used to eat, was eating |
| com | ía | ella | comía | She used to eat, was eating |
| com | ía | usted | comía | You (polite, singular) used to eat, were eating |
| com | ía | quién | comía | Who used to eat, was eating |
| com | íamos | nosotras, -os | comíamos | We used to eat, were eating |
| com | íais | vosotras, -os | comíais | You (familiar, plural) used to eat, were eating |
| com | ían | ellas, -os | comían | They used to eat, were eating |
| com | ían | ustedes | comían | You (polite, plural) used to eat , were eating |
| com | ían | quienes | comían | Who used to eat, were eating |
In group 2, only four verbs are irregular.
ser ( to be): era, eras, era,eramos, erais, eran
ver ( to see): veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían. Like ver : prever ( to preview) rever (to review)
Group 3 regular verbs example: pulir, to polish (the stem is pul-)
Stem Ending Spanish English
pul ía yo pulía I used to polish, was polishing
pul ías tú pulías You used to polish, were polishing
pul ía él pulía He used to polish, was polishing
pul ía ella pulía She used to polish, was polishing
pul ía usted pulía You used to polish, were polishing
pul ía quién pulía Who used to polish, was polishing
pul íamos nosotras pulíamos We used to polish, were polishing
pul íais vosotras, - os pulíais You used to polish, were polishing
pul ían ellas, - os pulían They used to polish, were polishing
pul ían ustedes pulían You used to polish , were polishing
pul ían quienes pulían Who used to polish, were polishing
In group 3, only one verb is irregular.
ir ( to go): iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban.
Because there are very few irregularities, this tense is used more often than the simple past to express a past action.
In English, the verb to be has the same form for the imperfect and simple past tenses.
The meaning of the verb is derived from the context of the sentence. For example, "When I was a boy, I used to go swimming often
In this case, the verb form was is in the imperfect tense.
In contrast, the sentence "I was sick for two days, but now I am well." shows the use of the verb form was as the simple past tense.
This book is available from lulu.com under item number 3352644. Books purchased from Lulu are accompanied by a complete list of irregular verbs and all of their forms.
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