A2.11 - Emergency services

The imperfect tense of irregular verbs

El pretérito imperfecto de verbos irregulares

Tres verbos son irregulares en pretérito imperfecto: ser, ir y ver.

(Three verbs are irregular in the pretérito imperfecto: ser, ir and ver.)

Imperfect (pretérito imperfecto): what it means

  • Use the imperfect to talk about a background situation, a habit, or an ongoing action in the past.
  • Think in English as: “used to …”, “was/were …-ing”, or “would … (often)”.
Imperfect is for… Typical English translation Spanish example
Habits / routines used to Antes, iba a urgencias en taxi. (I used to go…)
Descriptions / states was / were En esa época era voluntario. (I was…)
Ongoing background was …-ing Desde la ambulancia veía la dirección. (I could see / was seeing…)

The 3 key irregular verbs in the imperfect

Most imperfect forms are regular, but these three are special and extremely frequent:

Verb Core meaning Imperfect forms (yo → ellos)
ser to be (identity, characteristics) era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
ir to go iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
ver to see veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían
  • Accent alert: éramos, íbamos, veíamos. The accent helps keep the stress clear.
  • Spelling alert: ibamos is wrong in standard Spanish → íbamos.

Choosing between “era” and “estaba” (common question)

  • ser (era) = identity, role, defining characteristics
  • estar (estaba) = location, condition, temporary state
Goal Use Example (natural adult context)
Your role / profession ser Antes era voluntario en la Cruz Roja.
Where someone was estar Cuando llamaste, estaba en el hospital.
How someone felt / condition estar Ese día estaba muy cansado.

Quick self-check: If you can replace “was” with “was located” or “was feeling”, you probably need estaba. Otherwise, era is often right.

Imperfect vs. simple past (era/iba/veía vs. fui/fui a/vi)

  • Imperfect = the scene in the background (no clear start/end).
  • Preterite (simple past) = a completed, one-time event.
Background (imperfect) Completed event (preterite)
En esa época era enfermero. (background role) En 2019 fui enfermero por primera vez. (a specific change/event)
Siempre íbamos en ambulancia. (habit) Ayer fuimos en ambulancia. (one trip)
Desde allí veía la entrada. (ongoing perspective) De repente vi el accidente. (moment of seeing)

Practical rule: If the sentence answers “what happened next?”, you often want the preterite. If it answers “what was it like?”, you often want the imperfect.

Signal words that often trigger the imperfect

  • antes (before), en esa época (at that time), cuando (when… as background)
  • siempre (always), a menudo (often), todos los lunes (every Monday)

Note: These words don’t “force” the imperfect, but they strongly suggest habit/background.

Mini checklist: am I using era / iba / veía correctly?

  1. Am I describing a routine, setting, or ongoing past situation? → imperfect.
  2. Is the verb one of the three irregulars? → use era / iba / veía (and their forms).
  3. Did I include the accent in éramos / íbamos / veíamos?
  4. If I used era, am I expressing role/identity (ser) and not location/condition (estar)?
Ser (To be)Ir (To go)Ver (To see)
Yo era (I was)Yo iba (I was going)Yo veía (I used to see)
Tú eras (You were)Tú ibas (You were going)Tú veías  (You used to see)
Él era (He was)Él  iba (He was going)Él veía (He used to see)
Nosotros éramos (We were)Nosotros íbamos (We were going)Nosotras veíamos  (We used to see)
Vosotros erais (You were)Vosotros ibais (You were going)Vosotros veíais  (You used to see)
Ellos eran (They were)Ellos iban (They were going)Ellos veían  (They used to see)

Exercise 1: Multiple choice

Instruction: Choose the correct answer

1. Antes, yo ____ voluntario en la Cruz Roja y ayudaba en la sala de urgencias.

Before, I ____ a volunteer with the Red Cross and helped in the emergency room.

2. Cuando vivíamos en ese barrio, nosotros ____ al centro de salud en autobús.

When we lived in that neighborhood, we ____ to the health center by bus.

3. Desde la ambulancia, ella ____ la dirección en el móvil y llegaba más rápido.

From the ambulance, she ____ the address on her phone and arrived faster.

4. En aquella época, ellos ____ a urgencias por cualquier cosa y llamaban al teléfono de emergencia.

In those days, they ____ to the emergency room for anything and called the emergency number.

Exercise 2: Multiple Choice

Instruction: Choose the correct sentence in the imperfect past tense.

1.
-ar verbs do not take -ía in the imperfect; they must take -aba (ayudaba).
Here the simple past (ayudé) is used, but the sentence describes a habit or a non-specific situation in the past.
2.
Incorrect form: the first person plural is íbamos, not íbamosmos.
It is in the present tense (vamos), but the sentence talks about a routine in the past.

Exercise 3: Rewrite the phrases

Instruction: Rewrite the sentences in the imperfect past tense using the correct form of the irregular verbs SER, IR or VER (e.g.: Hoy soy voluntario → Antes era voluntario).

Show/Hide translation Show/Hide hints
  1. Ahora soy voluntario en la Cruz Roja.
    ⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Antes era voluntario en la Cruz Roja.
    (Before, I was a volunteer with the Red Cross.)
  2. Este mes voy al hospital todos los lunes.
    ⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Ese mes iba al hospital todos los lunes.
    (That month I used to go to the hospital every Monday.)
  3. Hoy veo ambulancias pasar por mi calle.
    ⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Antes veía ambulancias pasar por mi calle.
    (Before, I used to see ambulances going down my street.)
  4. Ahora somos responsables del teléfono de emergencia.
    ⇒ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Example
    Antes éramos responsables del teléfono de emergencia.
    (Before, we were responsible for the emergency phone line.)

Exercise 4: Grammar in action

Instruction: In pairs, tell past experiences and compare what you saw and did.

Show/Hide translation
Situation
En una formación, recordáis cómo eran las actuaciones en una emergencia.
(In a training session, you remember what the actions were like in an emergency.)
Discuss
  • ¿Dónde estabais y quién era responsable del teléfono de emergencia? (Where were you and who was responsible for the emergency phone?)
  • ¿Adónde ibais cuando había urgencias y qué veíais al llegar? (Where did you go when there were emergencies and what did you see when you arrived?)
Useful words and phrases
  • Yo era voluntario de la Cruz Roja. (I was a Red Cross volunteer.)
  • Íbamos en la ambulancia a las urgencias. (We were going in the ambulance to the emergency department.)
  • Veía el botiquín de emergencia en la sala de urgencias. (I saw the emergency first-aid kit in the emergency room.)
Use in conversation
  • era/éramos (was/were)
  • iba/íbamos (was going/were going)
  • veía/veíamos (saw/saw)

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Anja Radovanovic

Language sciences

Ca' Foscari University of Venice

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Last Updated:

Thursday, 16/04/2026 09:29