The Imperfect Indicative is a past tense. It is used to talk about ongoing past actions, habitual actions in the past, and lasting personal qualities or conditions.
It is used when talking about what time it was in the past, moods/feelings/and emotions in the past, someone’s age in the past, etc. It is also used to talk about ongoing past actions, habitual actions in the past, and lasting personal qualities or conditions.
| Yo hablaba. | I used to speak. I spoke. I was speaking. |
| Yo hablaba enfrente de la clase el viernes. | I spoke in front of the class on Fridays. |
The following charts show the verb “endings” for all regular verbs in the Imperfect Indicative Tense.
Remember: these verb charts are only a tool to use while one is learning the language. In other words, one must eventually forget the verb chart and it must become second nature.
| Personal Pronoun | Ending | Example (hablar) |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | -aba | hablaba |
| Tu | -abas | hablabas |
| El/Ella | -aba | hablaba |
| Nosotros | -ábamos | hablábamos |
| Vosotros | -abais | hablabais |
| Ellos/Ellas | -aban | hablaban |
| Personal Pronoun | Ending | Example (compartir) |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | -ía | compartía |
| Tu | -ías | compartías |
| El/Ella | ía | compartía |
| Nosotros | -íamos | compartíamos |
| Vosotros | -ías | compartías |
| Ellos/Ellas | -ían | compartían |
| Personal Pronoun | Ending | Example (comer) |
|---|---|---|
| Yo | -ía | comía |
| Tu | -ías | comías |
| El/Ella | ía | comía |
| Nosotros | -íamos | comíamos |
| Vosotros | -ías | comías |
| Ellos/Ellas | -ían | comían |
Spanish infinitives are conjugated by dropping the ending (-ar, -er, -ir) and adding a new ending, thus creating a new word. The ending identifies:
1) the tense - when the action of the verb is taking place; and
2) the person - who is performing the action of the verb.