There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect: ser Note: This is not a typo ser and ir do have identical conjugations in the preterite! Ser, ir, dar and hacer are irregular in the preterite: ser To describe the characteristics of people, things or conditions.For actions that “set the stage” for another past action.For actions that were repeated habitually.The imperfect is used in the following situations: To state the beginning or the end of an action.For actions that were part of a chain of events.

For actions that occurred during a specific period of time.

For actions that were repeated a specific number of times.

For actions that can be viewed as single events.

The preterite is used in the following situations: Generally speaking, the preterite is used for actions in the past that are seen as completed, while the imperfect tense is used for past actions that did not have a definite beginning or a definite end.Īnother way to view this is that the preterite tells us specifically when an action took place, while the imperfect tells us in general when an action took place. Here are all three regular imperfect verb forms together: hablar Note: The nosotros forms for -ar and -ir verbs are the same in both preterite and present tenses: hablamos, vivimos. Here are all three regular preterite verb forms together: hablar

Subjunctive VIII: Actions not yet completed Subjunctive III: Verbs that change orthographically Subjunctive II: Conjugating regular and stem-changing verbs

Preterite endings ver