Regular verbs .

1. The imperfect tense 8 Regular verbs. The imperfect tense is quite easy to form and has very few irregular parts. There are only two sets of endings to learn and only three irregular verbs. Formation of the imperfect tense: Take the following steps: 1. Take the infinitive of the verb you wish to use. 2. Take off the -AR, -ER or -IR. 3. Add the endings. -AR endings: -aba -abas -aba -ábamos -abais -aban. -ER / IR endings -ía -ías -ía -íamos -íais -ían.

2. The imperfect tense 9 HABLAR= to speak / talk habl habl habl habl habl habl All regular -AR verbs are formed in the following way: aba I talked, I was talking, I used to talk. abas You talked, you were talking, you used to talk. aba He / she / it talked, was talking, used to talk. ábamos We talked, we were talking, we used to talk. abais You talked, you were talking, you used to talk. They talked, they were talking, they used to talk aban

3. The imperfect tense 10 COMER = to eat com com com com com com All regular -ER and -IR verbs are formed in the following way. ía I ate, I was eating, I used to eat. ías You ate, you were eating, you used to eat. ía He / she / it ate, was eating, used to eat. íamos We ate, we were eating, we used to eat. íais You ate, you were eating, you used to eat. ían They ate, they were eating, they used to eat.

4. The imperfect tense 11 ABRIR= to open abr abr abr abr abr abr ía I opened, was opening, I used to open ías You opened, were opening, you used to open. ía He / she/ it / opened, was opening, used to open. íamos We opened, we were opening, we used to open. íais You opened, you were opening, you used to open. ían They opened, they were opening, they used to open.

5. The imperfect tense 12 The good news about the imperfect tense is that all of the verbs except three are regular. The three irregular verbs are SER, IR and VER. VER = to see veía I saw, used to see. veías you saw, used to see. veía he / she / it saw, used to see. veíamos we saw, used to see. veíaisyou saw, used to see. veíanthey saw, used to see. leer=to read also does this. leía I read, used to read SER = to be era I was, used to be. eras you were, used to be. era he / she / it was, used to be. éramos we were, used to be. erais you were, used to be. eran they were, used to be. IR = to go iba I went, used to go. ibas you went, used to go. iba he / she / it went, used to go. íbamos we went, used to go. ibais you went, used to go. iban they went, used to go.

6. The imperfect tense 13 To summarise: The imperfect tense is used for descriptions in the past and the meaning of the imperfect tense can change according to context and use. (Yo) Iba a Madrid.Could mean: 1. I went to Madrid.Repeated action. 2. I was going to Madrid.Action begun in past and probably going to be interrupted by another event. 3. I used to go to Madrid.Frequent action 4. I would go to Madrid. Frequent action

7. The imperfect tense 14 Change the verb in brackets to the imperfect tense. • 1Yo (ir) ___a menudo al centro de la ciudad. • 2 Tú no (levantarse) ___________ nunca antes de las doce. • 3 Ana (telefonear) __________ a su madre cada día. • Yo (comer) _____ cuando el teléfono sonó. • Nosotros (jugar)_________ al fútbol en el parque. • Ustedes (comer) _______ ensalada con todas las comidas. • Ella (bañarse) _________ cuando alguien llamó a la puerta. • 8 El niño siempre (abrir) ____ la nevera. • 9 Roberto nunca (escoger) ______ el mismo libro que María. • Yo (leer) ___ el mapa mientras mi padre (conducir)________. • 11 (Empezar) _________ a nevar cuando nos pusimos en camino. • 12 Nosotros siempre (llegar) _________ temprano. iba televantabas telefoneaba comía jugábamos comían se bañaba abría escogía leía conducía Empezaba llegábamos menu