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Teaching guidelines +/- 15 minutes

This lesson teaches the imperfect past tense of regular Spanish verbs, focusing on the conjugation patterns for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs, with the verb "ayudar" as a model. It covers the tense's use for habitual or ongoing past actions, explaining key forms and uses. It highlights typical endings like -aba, -abas, -ía, -ías, and notes important pronunciation and spelling accents. The lesson is designed for A2 learners to describe past routines, actions, and background situations naturally and accurately.
  1. For verbs ending in "-ar" the endings "-aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban" are added.
  2. For verbs ending in -er/-ir the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían are added.

 

Persona (Person)Verbo (Verb) 'ayudar'Ejemplo (Example)
YoAyudabaYo ayudaba en la ambulancia.
TúAyudabas¿Tú ayudabas en la Cruz Roja?
Él/EllaAyudabaLa paramédica ayudaba mucho.

Nosotros

Nosotras

AyudábamosNosotros ayudábamos en emergencias.

Vosotros

Vosotras

Ayudabais¿Vosotros ayudabais la gente con el Seguro Social?

Ellos

Ellas

AyudabanEllos ayudaban a los pacientes.

 

Exceptions!

  1. The first and third person singular are the same.

Exercise 1: El pretérito imperfecto de verbos regulares

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

atendían, ayudaban, visitaban, miraba, llamaba, escuchabais, usabas, trabajábamos

1. Mirar:
Ella ... la sala de urgencias desde la ventana.
(She was watching the emergency room from the window.)
2. Usar:
¿Tú ... el teléfono de emergencia frecuentemente?
(Did you use the emergency phone frequently?)
3. Visitar:
Ustedes ... la clínica todos los lunes.
(You used to visit the clinic every Monday.)
4. Atender:
Los médicos ... a muchos pacientes cada día.
(The doctors used to see many patients every day.)
5. Ayudar:
Ellos ... en las campañas de protección civil.
(They used to help in the civil protection campaigns.)
6. Llamar:
Mi hermana ... a los bomberos cada vez que veía humo.
(My sister used to call the fire brigade every time she saw smoke.)
7. Trabajar:
Nosotros ... con la Cruz Roja todos los veranos.
(We used to work with the Red Cross every summer.)
8. Escuchar:
Vosotros ... las instrucciones del socorro.
(You were listening to the rescue instructions.)

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct sentence that properly uses the imperfect tense of regular and irregular verbs related to emergency services.

1.
The accent is missing in 'ayudábamos', which is necessary in the first person plural of the imperfect tense.
Error: 'ayudaron' is simple past tense, not imperfect; here the imperfect is sought for habitual or ongoing actions.
2.
The accent is missing in 'veías', necessary in second person singular of the imperfect tense of the verb 'ver'.
'Veiste' is incorrect; the simple past of 'ver' is 'viste', but for imperfect the form is 'veías'.
3.
The accent in 'íbán' is incorrect; 'iban' does not have an accent in the imperfect tense.
The form 'ibaban' is incorrect; it should be 'iban' for third person plural of the verb 'ir' in imperfect.
4.
'Ayudaste' is simple past for second person singular, which does not correspond with the subject 'he'.
'Ayudabas' is second person singular, while the subject 'he' requires 'ayudaba' in third person singular.

The Imperfect Past Tense of Regular Verbs in Spanish

Welcome to this lesson focused on the pretérito imperfecto, a vital past tense used in Spanish to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past without specifying their beginning or end. It also serves to set scenes or provide background information.

Conjugation Patterns

For verbs ending in -ar, the endings are: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Example: ayudar (to help): Yo ayudaba, Tú ayudabas, Él/Ella ayudaba, Nosotros ayudábamos, Vosotros ayudabais, Ellos ayudaban.

For verbs ending in -er or -ir, the endings are: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. Examples include verbs like comer (to eat) or vivir (to live).

Usage Highlights

  • Expresses actions repeated or habitual in the past: Nosotros ayudábamos en emergencias.
  • Describes background scenes or ongoing past situations: La paramédica ayudaba mucho.
  • The first and third person singular forms are identical (yo ayudaba = él ayudaba).

Important Notes on Usage

Unlike English past tenses, the Spanish imperfect often covers situations that were habitual or continuous without a definite start or end. English speakers can think of it as "was/were doing" or "used to do" rather than a simple past.

Key Vocabulary from This Lesson

  • ayudar – to help
  • ambulancia – ambulance
  • paramédica – paramedic (female)
  • emergencias – emergencies
  • pacientes – patients

This lesson suits learners at the A2 level who want to build a solid understanding of describing past habitual or continuous actions. Mastery of this tense enables you to talk fluently about past routines, backgrounds, or ongoing activities.

Important Differences and Useful Phrases

Spanish uses the imperfect tense to portray past context much more frequently than English, which often relies on simple past or past progressive forms. For example:

  • Yo ayudaba en la ambulancia. translates as "I was helping at the ambulance" or "I used to help at the ambulance." English requires a phrase to express the ongoing nature.
  • Nosotros ayudábamos a los heridos. means "We were helping the injured" or "We used to help the injured."

Familiar phrases:

  • ¿Tú ayudabas…? – Did you use to help…?
  • Ellos ayudaban… – They were helping…

Pay attention to accent marks in endings, such as ayudábamos with an accent on the first 'a' in the first-person plural form, which is crucial for correct spelling and pronunciation.

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