Spanish Imprefect ER IR Verbs Spanish Verb Conjugation

Spanish mini-course

Let’s take a look at some of these Spanish Verbs:

Yo ía nosotros íamos
ías vosotros (Tú Plural) (used only in Spain) íais
Él ía

Notice that just like with “ar” ending “Back” verbs, “er/ir” back verbs also have the same endings for “Yo” and for “Él/Ella and Ud.”
ellos ían
Ella ellas
usted ustedes (uds.)

Let’s review those again.

ía - ías - ía - íamos - íais - ían

Now let’s put the endings on the verb “comer”. Remember, “comer” means “to eat”.

I was eating (Yo) comía We were eating (Nosotros) comíamos
Juan or María, You were eating (Tú) comías Now the Vosotros form which is
(tú plural – used only in Spain)
(Vosotros) comíais
He was eating
She was speaking
and
You were speaking
(Él) comía
(Ella) comía (Ud.) comía
They (m.) were eating
They (f.) were eating
All of were eating
(Ellos) comían
(Ellas) comían (Uds.) comían

Now take a look at the “Back” endings one more time and repeat them with Maria.

ía - ías - ía - íamos - íais - ían

Now let’s try a few of these using the chart on the screen and the verb “escribir”.

I was writing / (yo escrib(ir) Escribía
You used to write / (tú escrib(ir) Escribías
He wrote sometimes/ (él escrib(ir) Escribía
She was writing / (ella escrib(ir) Escribía
You used to write / (Ud. escrib(ir) Escribía
We wrote (all the time) / (Nosotros escrib(ir) Escribíamos
They (m.) were writing / (ellos escrib(ir) Escribían
They (f.) used to write / (ellas escrib(ir) Escribían
All of you were writing / (Uds. escrib(ir) Escribían

Remember, that the Uds form of “Escribían” means:

“You (plural) were writing.”

“You (plural) used to write”

“You (plural) wrote sometimes"

“on Thursdays”

Or “frequently”

Remember, the “Back” or “Imperfect” tense represent an indefinite period of time without a specific starting or ending point.

Now, since repetition is so important, let’s repeat the endings again.

ía - ías - ía - íamos - íais - ían

Now we’ll practice with a few different verbs. Are you ready?

I used to sell… (Yo) vendía
You were living in… – (using “tú”) (Tú) vivías en…
He always promised (Él) siempre prometía
She used to run (Ella) corría
You were deciding… (Ud.) decidía
We used open it… (Nosotros) lo abríamos
They learned something every week (Ellos) aprendían algo cada semana
All of you were eating (Uds.) comían

Spanish Review

I was believing creía
(Marta) You used to prefer prefería
He was eating comía
She was learning aprendía
(Sra. Benites) You used owe debía
We always promised him lo prometíamos
They were reading leían
All of you used to run corrían
I saw her (all the time) la veía
(Martín) You were selling vendía
He used to surprise me me sorprendía
She asked for it (every day) lo pedía
(Sr. Mendes) You were attending asistía
We used to decide decidíamos
They went up (twice a week) subían
All of you were living (in Spain) vivían
I used to open it lo abría
(Marta) You received them (often) los recibías
He was writing escribía
She used to follow him lo seguía
(Sra. Benites) You were destroying it! lo destruía
We used to want it lo queríamos
They lost (frequently) perdían
All of you were sleeping dormían