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Imperfect is used for ongoing or habitual actions in the past (as opposed to preterite, which is used for finished events). Example: De niño iba a la playa cada verano. (As a child, I went to the beach every summer. Iba is the imperfect tense of ir, meaning to go, and is appropriate in this case because it was a reoccurring event.) A similar sentence in preterite would be Cuando tenía doce años, fui a la playa.(When I was twelve years old, I went to the beach. This just uses preterite because it was a single event that happened and then was completed).

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Q: What is the imperfect past tense in spanish?
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Can the imperfect tense in Spanish be narration in the past?

The imperfect tense can certainly be used in some aspects of past-tense narration, but you will need a range of different tenses to perform a proper past-tense narration. At the minimum, you will need both imperfect and preterit OR imperfect and present perfect. However, you will likely need other tenses such as imperfect progressive, past perfect, and imperfect subjunctive.


What is a past imperfect tense?

The past imperfect tense (or just imperfect tense) is used to describe an action in the past that is recognized as unfinished or continuous, which contrasts that of the preterite tense which recognizes an action in the past as being completed. English doesn't have an imperfect tense. A rough example of the imperfect tense in English would be "I was reading". The verb "was" implies that although I was reading sometime in the past, I didn't necessarily finish or the action got interrupted.


How do you use the word ir in Spanish in the past tense?

Ir in the past/preterite tense is: fui fuiste fue fuimos fuisteis fueron Ir in the past/imperfect tense is: iba ibas iba ibamos (accent on the i) ibais iban


How do you use past tense in spanish?

pasa


Why do you need to know the preterite tense?

You need to know the preterite tense if you are talking to someone about your past. However, there are two past tenses: the preterite and the imperfect. For a short description, the preterite is used when something is done and over with. The imperfect is for stuff that continously happened in the past. For example: If you lived on State street for five years, you would use the imperfect. If you said, I played basketball with my friends (yesterday) then you would use the preterite. Look for keys words in a sentence to know which tense to use such as yesterday, always, etc.

Related questions

Can the imperfect tense in Spanish be narration in the past?

The imperfect tense can certainly be used in some aspects of past-tense narration, but you will need a range of different tenses to perform a proper past-tense narration. At the minimum, you will need both imperfect and preterit OR imperfect and present perfect. However, you will likely need other tenses such as imperfect progressive, past perfect, and imperfect subjunctive.


What the imperfect tense for light?

The imperfect past tense of the verb "light" is lit.


What tense is Was running?

"Was running" is in the past continuous tense. It indicates an action that was ongoing in the past at a specific point in time.


What is past imperfect tense?

The past imperfect tense (or just imperfect tense) is used to describe an action in the past that is recognized as unfinished or continuous, which contrasts that of the preterite tense which recognizes an action in the past as being completed. English doesn't have an imperfect tense. A rough example of the imperfect tense in English would be "I was reading". The verb "was" implies that although I was reading sometime in the past, I didn't necessarily finish or the action got interrupted.


What is a past imperfect tense?

The past imperfect tense (or just imperfect tense) is used to describe an action in the past that is recognized as unfinished or continuous, which contrasts that of the preterite tense which recognizes an action in the past as being completed. English doesn't have an imperfect tense. A rough example of the imperfect tense in English would be "I was reading". The verb "was" implies that although I was reading sometime in the past, I didn't necessarily finish or the action got interrupted.


What tense is was?

This is the imperfect tense. (verb)= present tense (verb)ed= perfect tense was (verb)ing= imperfect tense Perfect and imperfect are both forms of the past tense.


What the imperfect tense for drink?

past tense for drink is drank.


How do you use the word ir in Spanish in the past tense?

Ir in the past/preterite tense is: fui fuiste fue fuimos fuisteis fueron Ir in the past/imperfect tense is: iba ibas iba ibamos (accent on the i) ibais iban


What are the two forms of past tense?

perfect and imperfect


4 ways to translate the imperfect tense in latin?

The imperfect tense can be translated as:was/were ______ ingused to _____kept _____ ingThe fourth way is simply the past tense of the verb, as with the perfect tense.


What is the past tense of to turn?

it depends on which past tense you mean. Preterite: turned Imperfect: turned Past Progressive: was turning Past Perfect: had turned


What verb tense is were fighting?

"Were fighting" is the imperfect tense of the verb "to fight". The imperfect indicates an ongoing or habitual action in the past that does not have a specified time frame.