The formation of the imperfect indicative tense is as follows:
Infinitive –> Stem + Endings*Hablar –> Habl-
-aba
-ábamos
-abas
-abais
-aba
-abanComer –> Com-
-ía
-íamos
-ías
-íais
-ía
-íanVivir –> Viv-
-ía
-íamos
-ías
-íais
-ía
-ían
* Note that the -er and -ir endings are identical.
Description of past
conditions
Habitual or repeated past
actions
Contextual activity with
interruption
Mental or emotional states
Past progressive
Telling time in the past
The imperfect is the descriptive past, while the preterite is the narrative past. It is sometimes difficult to discern "descriptive" from "narrative," so in order to use these tenses correctly it is helpful to study carefully the speaker's primary intent. The following are the main uses of the imperfect indicative tense.
1. The
description of past conditions, with the emphasis on how
things were rather than on what happened.
2. To describe
habitual or repeated past actions. (Note that whenever "would"
means "used to" when describing habitual or repeated past actions,
one should always use the imperfect and not the conditional tense.)
3. To describe
something that was happening when something else
occurred.
4. To describe
past mental or emotional states in the past.
5. To form the
past progressive with estar and the past
participle.
Preterite tense
Pluperfect
Conditional
"If" constructions
The preterite and the imperfect
contrasted
Verbs