Imperfect — Uses of the Imperfect

Imperfect — Uses of the Imperfect

The imperfect indicative tense is used:

To express customary or habitual past action. This corresponds to the English "used" followed by an infinitive.

Yo comía allí cada día.
I used to eat there every day.

Él ganaba mucho dinero en México.
He used to earn a lot of money in Mexico.

To express an interrupted past action. In this case the interrupted action, that which was going on, is placed in the imperfect indicative, and the interrupting action, that which did the interrupting, is put in the preterite indicative. The imperfect action is generally expressed by the progressive imperfect (imperfect of estar plus the present participle of the main verb).

Yo estaba estudiando cuando Carlos entró.
I was studying when Carlos entered.

Yo manejaba el carro cuando vimos a los niños.
I was driving the car when we saw the children.

To express two or more actions occurring together. All of these actions will be put in the imperfect and either the simple imperfect or the progressive imperfect may be used. (Notice that the translation in these cases is "was" or "were" plus the present participle in English.)

Yo estaba trabajando (trabajaba), y ella estaba leyendo (leía).
I was working, and she was reading.

Enrique estaba jugando (jugaba) con su hijo, y su esposa estaba preparando (preparaba) la comida.
Enrique was playing with his son and his wife was preparing dinner.

To form the Past Progressive Tense. The imperfect tense of the verb estar is used before the present participle of a verb to show progressive action in past time. This action may also be expressed by the imperfect tense of the main verb.

Ella estaba trabajando allí.
She was working there.

Juan estaba viviendo solo.
Juan was living alone.

Verbs to Avoid

Avoid using ir, venir, salir, and other verbs of motion in the progressive tenses. The verbs ir, andar, continuar, and seguir are also used with the present participle to express an even stronger progressive meaning. Of the four verbs, ir and andar are more commonly used.

Lo arrestaron porque andaba tomando.
They arrested him because he was walking about drinking.

Ellos iban caminando por el camino.
They were walking along the road.

Ella seguía cantando.
She kept on singing.

Requirement of the Imperfect Tense with Certain Verbs

The imperfect tense expresses an action of indefinitely prolonged duration: Whatever the person was doing, used to do, or customarily did are the usual translations. Use the imperfect indicative tense to state whatever the person or persons (1) was or were, (2) had (possession), (3) knew, (4) wanted, (5) intended, (6) needed, or (7) owed.

Él no tenía dinero.
He didn't have any money.

No sabíamos eso.
We didn't know that.

No queríamos ir porque no teníamos dinero.
We didn't want to go because we didn't have any money.

¿Cuándo pensaba Ud. estudiar?
When did you intend to study?

Yo sabía que él era mexicano.
I knew that he was Mexican.

Él no me necesitaba.
He did not need me.