1 Imperfect of -er & -ir verbs

2 2 past tenses In Spanish, there are 2 simple past tenses: preterite imperfect

3 Preterite used for an action that started and ended at a definite time in the past. ejemplo: I went to the store. I ate a sandwich.

4 Imperfect used for a habitual or repeated action in the past. Things that happened more than once. The exact time the action began and ended is not important.

5 ejemplos I used to go to the store. Last year I was eating meat.

6 To use the imperfect... Find the stem of the infinitive (unconjugated verb) by dropping the last two letters of the infinitive.

7 ejemplo Hablar (infinitive) Habl (stem)

8 Next... Put the correct imperfect ending based upon the subject pronoun.

9 same endings Regular -er and -ir verbs have the same endings in the imperfect tense.

10 Leer yo leía nosotros leíamos tú leías él/ella/Ud. leía ellos/ellas/Uds. leían

11 escribir yo escribía nosotros escribíamos tú escribías él/ella/Ud. Escribía ellos/ellas/Uds. escribían

12 Don’t Forget! Don’t forget to put the accent mark with each ending!

13 había (there was/there were) The imperfect of “hay” (there is/there are) is “había” (there was/there were).

14 Singular or Plural You use “había” whether the noun is singular or plural. Ejemplos: Había un concierto. (There was a concert.) Había fuegos artificiales. (There were fireworks.)

15 Common Words used with Imperfect siempre (always) a veces (sometimes) de vez en cuando (from time to time) con frecuencia (often) a menudo (often) todos los días (every day)

16 Checking for Understanding

17 How many past tenses are there in Spanish?

18 What are the 2 Spanish past tenses? preterite imperfect

19 How are preterite and imperfect different? Preterite - used for action that began and ended at definite time in past Imperfect - ongoing in past. When it ended is not important.

20 Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Yo _______________ dinero. (tener) tenía

21 Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Nosotros ______________ en Tennessee. (vivir) vivíamos

22 Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. ¿De vez en cuando tú ________________ helado? (comer) comías

23 Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Mis padres siempre ______________ mayonesa en toda la comida. (poner) ponían

24 Conjugate the verb in parenthesis into the sentence correctly using the imperfect tense. Isabella _______________ cartas a su abuela. (escribir) escribía

25 el fin

26 Hola, I hope you and your students find this slideshow about Imperfect Verbs to be helpful. If you have any questions about the material, please feel free to email me at [email protected]. Gracias, Maestra en [email protected]