Regular verbs

The majority of verbs are regular in the imperfect tense.

The imperfect is formed by removing the -ar, -ir and -er endings from the infinitive and adding the imperfect endings:

As you can see, the endings for -er and -ir verbs are the same.

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

• Mi padre trabajaba en una oficina. (My father used to work in an office.)
• De niño, siempre comía caramelos. (As a child, I always used to eat sweets.)

Question

Write the imperfect tense of the following verbs.

1. nadar (yo)
2. vivir (nosotros)
3. ellos (esperar)
4. asistir (vosotros)
5. comer (tú)
6. aprender (ella)

Reveal answer

1. nadaba (I used to swim)
2. vivíamos (we used to live)
3. esperaban (they used to hope)
4. asistíais (you used to attend)
5. comías (you used to eat)
6. aprendía (she used to learn)