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8.15 TALKING ABOUT THE PAST: The Imperfect Tense - Irregular Verbs
Some verbs have irregular conjugations in the imperfect tense. Following, are some of the more frecuently used ones.
SER – To be
Yo era – I was/used to be
Tú eras – You were/used to be (informal)
Usted era – You were/used to be (formal)
Él/Ella era – He/She was/used to be
Nosotros/Nosotras éramos – We were/used to be
Ustedes eran – You were/used to be
Ellos/Ellas eran – They were/used to be
Let’s look at some examples:
Cuando (yo) era niño (yo) veía mucha televisión – When I was a child I used to watch a lot of TV
¿Qué hacías cuando eras niño? – We did you do when you were a child?
Cuando vivía en Colombia, era policía – When he lived in Colombia he used to be a policeman
Cuando éramos jóvenes, jugábamos fútbol todos los días – When we were young we used to play soccer every day.
En Madrid, ellas eran bailarinas – In Madrid, they were dancers
IR – To go
Yo iba – I went/used to go
Tú ibas – You went/used to go (informal)
Usted iba – You went/used to go (formal)
Él/Ella iba – He/She went/used to go
Nosotros íbamos – We went/used to go
Ustedes iban – You went/used to go (plural)
Ellos/Ellas iban – They went/used to go
Let’s look at some examples:
(Yo) iba a la escuela todos los días – I used to go to school every day
¿Ibas con tus padres? – You used to go with your parents?
Íbamos siempre juntos – We always used to go together
Ellos iban a la biblioteca los miércoles – They used to go to the library on Wednesdays
VER – To see
Yo veía – I saw/used to see
Tú veías – You saw/used to see
Usted veía – You saw/used to see
Él/Ella veía – He/She saw/used to see
Nosotros/Nosotras veíamos – We saw/used to see
Ustedes veían – You saw/used to see
Ellos/Ellas veían – They saw/used to see
Let’s look at some examples:
(Yo) veía tu hermano todos los días – I used to see your brother every day
¿Veías este carro afuera? – You used to see this car outside?
Ella veía mucha gente por la noche – She used to see a lot of people here at night
Veíamos muchos animales aquí – We used to see a lot of animals here
Ellos veían sus parientes frequentemente – They used to see their relatives often