A2Spanish · Grammar

Past Imperfect

A lesson from the A2 course: the rule, examples and a 20-sentence test.

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Lesson

The Imperfect Past Tense (Pretérito Imperfecto) 🕰️

Hello there! Today we're diving into the Spanish Imperfect Past Tense, known as the Pretérito Imperfecto. This is a really important tense that will help you talk about what you used to do in the past, describe places or people, and discuss past habits. Think of it like the English 'I was doing', 'I used to be', or 'I would read'.

Forming this tense is quite straightforward! For most verbs, you simply remove the infinitive ending -ar, -er, or -ir and add the correct Imperfect endings.

Verb stem + Imperfect endings
Pronoun-AR (hablar)-ER (comer)-IR (vivir)
yohablabacomíavivía
túhablabascomíasvivías
él/ella/ustedhablabacomíavivía
nosotros/ashablábamoscomíamosvivíamos
vosotros/ashablabaiscomíaisvivíais
ellos/ellas/ustedeshablabancomíanvivían

In the Pretérito Imperfecto, we only have three irregular verbs! Isn't that fantastic news? They are: ser (to be), ir (to go), and ver (to see).

PronounSER (to be)IR (to go)VER (to see)
yoeraibaveía
túerasibasveías
él/ella/ustederaibaveía
nosotros/aséramosíbamosveíamos
vosotros/aseraisibaisveíais
ellos/ellas/ustedeseranibanveían

So, when do we use the Pretérito Imperfecto? Here are the main situations:

  • To describe people, places, situations, or states in the past. What was something like?
  • For repeated actions or habits in the past. What did you used to do regularly?
  • For ongoing actions in the past, often as background to another, shorter action. What was happening when something else occurred?
  • To talk about age, time, or weather in the past.

Cuando era niño, jugaba en el parque todos los días.

When I was a child, I used to play in the park every day.

Ella leía un libro mientras yo cocinaba.

She was reading a book while I was cooking.

Antes vivíamos en una casa grande.

Before, we used to live in a big house.

Remember the D.A.W.N. acronym for the Pretérito Imperfecto: Descriptions, Age, Weather, Never-ending (for habitual or ongoing actions)! This will help you recall its main uses. 😉
Be careful not to confuse the Pretérito Imperfecto with the Pretérito Indefinido (the simple past/preterite)! The Imperfecto tells you what something was like or what was happening, while the Indefinido describes what happened (a completed action). This is a key difference!

Test yourself

20 questions. Answer them all, then check — you'll see what you got right and what to fix.

  1. 1

    Complete the sentence

    Nosotros a nuestros abuelos los fines de semana.

    We used to visit our grandparents at weekends.

  2. 2

    Complete the sentence

    Ella siempre mucha alegría al ver a su familia.

    She always felt a lot of joy seeing her family.

  3. 3

    Fill in both gaps

    Yo no 1 dormir bien cuando 2 mucho calor.

    I couldn't sleep well when it was very hot.

    1
    2
  4. 4

    Complete the sentence

    Cada tarde los niños por el jardín sin parar.

    Every afternoon the children would run around the garden non-stop.

  5. 5

    Fill in both gaps

    Él 1 mucha leche cuando 2 un bebé.

    He drank a lot of milk when he was a baby.

    1
    2
  6. 6

    Complete the sentence

    Siempre en las fiestas del pueblo.

    We always danced at village parties.

  7. 7

    Complete the sentence

    Mis padres el pan fresco cada mañana.

    My parents bought fresh bread every morning.

  8. 8

    Complete the sentence

    La película siempre con un final feliz.

    The film always ended with a happy ending.

  9. 9

    Type the missing word

    Mi abuelo por el parque cada mañana.

    My grandfather walked in the park every morning.

  10. 10

    Type the missing word

    Ellos siempre viajar por todo el mundo.

    They always wanted to travel all over the world.

  11. 11

    Type the missing word

    Mi prima en el coro todos los domingos.

    My cousin used to sing in the choir every Sunday.

  12. 12

    Type the missing word

    Antes, tú a pie a todas partes.

    In the past, you went everywhere on foot.

  13. 13

    Type the missing words in the right form

    Ella muy tímida cuando (ir) a la escuela.

    She was very shy when she went to school.

  14. 14

    Type the missing word

    Yo ocho horas cada noche sin problemas.

    I slept eight hours every night without any problems.

  15. 15

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    There were fewer cars on the streets before.

  16. 16

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    You all studied a lot for your university exams.

  17. 17

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    It always rained a lot in autumn in my city.

  18. 18

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    Every Saturday we used to get up very early to go to the countryside.

  19. 19

    Build the missing word from the letters

    Ella nunca la televisión por la mañana.

    She never watched television in the morning.

  20. 20

    Match each word to its meaning

Printable test

The full test as a PDF with an answer key — print it for yourself or for a class.

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Practise this set in the app

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