El Imperfecto GUIDED NOTES

A. -AR Conjugations Drop the –AR and add the following endings. -aba -abas -ábamos -abais -aban

B. -ER and -IR Conjugations Drop the ending and add the following endings. -ías -íamos -íais -ían

C. Stem-changing verbs in present and preterite DO NO stem-change in imperfect. Yo cuento / Yo contaba Él sirvió / Nosotros servíamos

D. Only 3 irregular verbs in IMPERFECT! VER: veía veíamos veías veíais veía veían SER: era éramos eras erais era eran IR: iba íbamos ibas ibais iba iban

E. HABER Hay (present) : there is / there are Hay una fiesta esta noche. Había (imperfect) : there was / there were Había una fiesta el sábado pasado. The preterite tense is seldom used.

F. Reasons to Use IMPERFECT

1. Say what was happening Ricky Martin cantaba mientras yo bailaba. Ricky Martin was singing while I was dancing.

2. Say what used to happen Vivíamos en Arkasas. We used to live in Arkansas.

3. What usually happened over and over again in the past Celebrábamos la navidad con mis abuelos. We always used to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents.

4. Describe people or things in the past Mi abuela era bonita y rubia. My grandmother was pretty and blonde.

5. To tell time and dates in the past Eran las cinco y media. It was 5:30. Era el cuatro de julio. It was the 4th of July.

6. To tell age in the past Soledad tenía veinte años. Soledad was twenty.

7. To tell weather in the past Hacía buen tiempo. It was good weather.

8. To describe a person’s physical condition or emotional state in the past Los niños estaban cansados, pero estaban muy contentos. The children were tired, but were very happy.

9. To tell a location in the past El equipo de básquetbol estaba en la cancha. The basketball team was on the court.

10. To describe what was happening in the past when something else started or ended Yo veía la tele cuando mi hermano entró. I was watching TV when my brother entered.