The imperfect tense of regular verbs

When do you use the imperfect in Spanish?

• Background in the past: what the situation was like.
  • Example: La sala de urgencias era pequeña y siempre estaba llena. (The ER was small and was always full.)
• Habits and routines in the past: what you “used to” do.
  • Example: Yo ayudaba a mis vecinos todos los días. (I used to help my neighbours every day.)
• Ongoing / repeated actions in the past (without focusing on the start or the end).
  • Example: Nosotros atendíamos muchas llamadas por la noche. (We were handling / used to handle many calls at night.)
• Two actions happening at the same time in the past.
  • Example: Tú ayudabas en urgencias mientras yo atendía el teléfono. (You were helping in ER while I was answering the phone.)

Key idea: imperfect = “was / were doing”, “used to do”, descriptions and context.

How do you form the imperfect? (Regular verbs)

You already have the tables for ayudar and atender. Here is the short pattern you need to remember.

Apply the pattern:

• ayudar → yo ayudaba, tú ayudabas, él ayudaba, nosotros ayudábamos…
• atender → yo atendía, tú atendías, él atendía, nosotros atendíamos…

Spelling note: keep accents carefully in ayudábamos, atendíamos, atendíais.

Important detail: same form for “yo” and “él / ella”

In the imperfect:

• yo and él / ella are identical for regular verbs.

So you need the subject (or context) to know who it is:

• Yo ayudaba en la ambulancia. (I used to help…)
• Ella ayudaba en la ambulancia. (She used to help…)

Imperfect vs. simple past: what is the real difference?

Students often mix the imperfect with the simple past (pretérito indefinido). Think of:

• Imperfect = background, routine, ongoing.
• Simple past = one complete event, finished.

In this unit, you mostly need the imperfect for habits and background. The simple past appears sometimes in contrasts, but is not the focus.

Typical time expressions with the imperfect

These expressions often signal the imperfect because they talk about habits or long periods.

• siempre – always
• normalmente – normally
• todos los días / todos los sábados – every day / every Saturday
• cada mañana / cada noche – every morning / every night
• antes – before / in the past
• de niño / de joven – as a child / when I was young
• cuando vivíamos en… – when we lived in…

When you see these, ask yourself: “Was this a routine? A background situation?” → probably imperfect.

Step-by-step: choose the correct form

1. Check the meaning in English.
   • If you would say “used to …” or “was / were …-ing”, use imperfect.
   • If you would say “did (once)” or are describing a clear, finished event, it is often simple past.
2. Identify the verb type.
   • Ends in -ar → use -aba, -abas, -aba…
   • Ends in -er / -ir → use -ía, -ías, -ía…
3. Find the subject (yo, tú, él, nosotros…).
   • Remember: yo = él / ella in form, so use context to decide.
4. Add the correct ending and check the accent.
   • nosotros forms always have an accent: ayudábamos, atendíamos.

Common mistakes to avoid (and how to fix them)

• Mixing imperfect and simple past without a reason
  • Tú ayudabas mientras yo atendí las llamadas.
  • Better: Tú ayudabas mientras yo atendía las llamadas.
  • Two simultaneous past actions → both in imperfect.
• Forgetting person agreement
  • Nosotros íbamos a la ambulancia cuando recibía la llamada.
  • Better: Nosotros íbamos a la ambulancia cuando recibíamos la llamada.
  • Same subject “nosotros” → both verbs nosotros form.
• Using infinitive instead of imperfect
  • Mientras yo atender las llamadas…
  • Better: Mientras yo atendía las llamadas…
  • After mientras + past action, you need a conjugated verb, not an infinitive.
• Dropping accents
  • ayudabamos, atendiamos, atendiamos
  • Correct: ayudábamos, atendíamos, atendíais
  • Accents change pronunciation and sometimes meaning; train your eye to spot them.

Quick self-check: do I understand it?

Try to answer these questions mentally. If you can, you are on the right track.

1. Can you explain in English when you use the imperfect?
   • Background, habits, ongoing past actions, descriptions.
2. Can you give the endings for -ar verbs in the imperfect?
   • -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban
3. Can you give the endings for -er / -ir verbs in the imperfect?
   • -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían
4. Do you remember that yo = él / ella in form (ayudaba, atendía) and that you need context to see who it is?
5. Can you transform a present sentence about a habit into the past?
   • Present: Ahora ayudamos en el hospital.
   • Imperfect: Antes ayudábamos en el hospital.

If most answers are “yes”, you are ready to focus on speaking practice: describe how things used to be and what people used to do in emergencies.