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Imperfect indicative

Formation

The formation of the imperfect indicative tense is as follows:

Infinitive –> Stem + Endings*

Hablar –> Habl-

-aba
-ábamos
-abas
-abais
-aba
-aban

Comer –> Com-

-ía
-íamos
-ías
-íais
-ía
-ían

Vivir –> Viv-

-ía
-íamos
-ías
-íais
-ía
-ían

* Note that the -er and -ir endings are identical.

Uses

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.

6. To tell time in the past.

Related topics:

Preterite tense
Pluperfect
Conditional
"If" constructions
The preterite and the imperfect contrasted
Verbs