Spanish grammar · Level A2

Imperfect tense exercises A2

Learn how to form and use the imperfect past tense in Spanish practice with interactive A2-level exercises. Discover how to talk about habits, describe people and situations, and express actions that were happening in the past.

Start the 15-question exercise Free · Instant result

Choose the correct option

When I was little, _____ play soccer every day.

was playing I played I have played

Correct! When I was little, I played soccer every day.

A2 level Interactive exercises Free online practice

A look into the past

We explain how things were

With the imperfect, we are not interested in presenting a concrete action as finished. We want to explain what a situation was like, what usually happened or what was happening.

That is why it is especially useful for remembering stages of life, describing places, and building the setting of a story.

What was it like? What did you usually do? What was happening?

Habit When I was little, was playing play soccer every day. It was a habitual action during a past stage.

Situation My grandmother lived in a village. We describe a past situation.

Description The house Era big and had a garden. We explain what a place was like in the past.

Action in progress At ten still We were sleeping. The action was happening at that moment.

Habits Descriptions Actions in progress Imperfect

-AR -ABA

-ER / -IR -IA

First conjugation

Verbs ending in -ar

Let's take as an example hablar. We remove -ar and we add the endings in -aba.

Swipe sideways to view the table

Person	Hablar
yo	hablaba
tú	hablabacus
él / ella / usted	hablaba
nosotros/as	hablWe were
vosotros/as	hablabais
ellos / ellas / ustedes	hablAban

De pequeño was talking a lot with my grandparents.

Before we worked together.

The children they played in the park.

Second and third conjugations

Verbs ending in -er and -ir

Verbs ending in -er and -ir they share the same preterite imperfect endings.

Swipe sideways to view the table

Person	Comer	Vivir
yo	comia	vivia
tú	com-ías	viv-ías
él / ella / usted	comia	vivia
nosotros/as	comWe were going	vivWe were going
vosotros/as	comyou were going	vivyou were going
ellos / ellas / ustedes	comIan	vivIan

Before was eating at home every day.

When we were students, We used to live en Madrid.

My grandparents were leaving Let's go for a walk.

Repetition

Habits and repeated actions

We use the imperfect to talk about things that we used to do habitually in the past.

When I was little, was playing play soccer every day.

Before iba to the gym every morning.

Sundays we were eating with my grandparents.

before always every day as a child

Scenario

Descriptions in the past

We explain how it was a person, a place, an object, or a situation in the past.

My grandfather Era stop and had white hair.

Our house Era small, but had an enormous garden.

The town estaba near the sea.

Toward very cold and were Eleven o'clock.

Personal situation

Physical, mental, and emotional states

We describe how someone was, what they thought, what they knew, or what they wanted in a past context.

I was Tired.

No I knew the answer.

I wanted go home.

I was thinking that the store was open.

In development

Actions that were happening

We present an action that was in development at a certain point in the past.

At ten was sleeping.

At this time yesterday we worked.

When you arrived, I was studying.

Action in progress I used to study

Event When did you arrive?

Imperfect When I was little, was playing play soccer every day. It expresses habit during a phase of the past.

Preterite tense Ayer I played playing soccer. Present a concrete and completed action.

Imperfect The house Era Very big. Describe what was it like the house in the past.

Preterite tense Mis padres they bought the house in 2015. Tell a event that happened at a specific moment.

Imperfect: What was it like?

Preterite: What happened?

Comparative summary

Imperfect vs. Preterite

Swipe sideways to compare the times

Imperfect	Preterite tense
What was it like?	¿Qué pasó?
Habits	Completed actions
Descriptions	Events
Situations developing	Concrete actions
De pequeño was playing.	Ayer I played.

Imperfect

We present the action as context

The imperfect can show an action that was happening and that is part of the background situation.

Action in progress When you called, was studying.

progressive periphrasis

We highlight the development of the action

to be + gerund emphasize more explicitly that the action was in progress at that time.

Action in progress When you called, I was studying.

estaba studying

Another example

—What were you doing when it started to rain?

—I was walking through the park.

VISUAL GUIDE · LEVEL A2

Imperfect

Review at a glance how we form and when we use the imperfect tense. Learn how to talk about habits, descriptions, and situations in the past, practice the endings -aba and -ia and remember the main irregular verbs: to be, to go, and to see.

Download the PDF ↓ Free PDF · No registration required

Learn Spanish naturally

Do you know the forms of the past tense but hesitate when you start speaking?

Understanding the rules is important, but using verb tenses naturally requires practicing within real conversations and situations.

At PCE Spanish School you can learn Spanish with specialised teachers and work on grammar, vocabulary and conversation in live online classes.

Live online classes
Specialised teachers
Small groups
Real-life conversation practice
Grammar and vocabulary
Personalised corrections

Explore our Spanish courses

Spanish class Past tenses and conversation

Complete the sentence:
“My old house had a garden.”.

had tuvo has had will have

Correct! My old house had a garden.

Past description had

I was playing yesterday → I used to play every day

When I was little, I played soccer yesterday.

When I was little, I played soccer every day.

The imperfect is frequently used to express habits, not a single specific completed action.

I used to live → I used to live

I used to live in Madrid.

Verbs ending in -ir use the endings in -ia: live → lived.

We were going → We were going

Every summer we went to the beach.

The first-person plural form has an accent mark: we were going.

I was very shy → He was very shy

When I was a child, I was very shy.

To describe what a person was like during a past stage, we normally use the imperfect tense.

It was playing while I slept → It rang while I was sleeping

The phone was ringing while I slept.

The phone rang while I was sleeping.

We use the imperfect for the situation that was in progress and the preterite for the specific event.

Background and event

Context Yo was sleeping.

Event The telephone It rang.

What is the preterite imperfect?

It is a past tense that we use mainly to talk about habits, descriptions, states, and ongoing situations.

When I was little, lived en Madrid.

How is the preterite imperfect formed?

Verbs ending in -ar use endings in -aba, while verbs ending in -er and -ir use endings in -ia.

speak was talking
eat was eating
live lived

What are the irregular verbs in the preterite imperfect?

The three main irregular verbs are to be, to go and ver.

to be Era
go iba
see I was seeing

What is the difference between “jugaba” and “jugué”?

I used to play can express a habit, a description, or an action that was in progress. I played Present a concrete action as completed.

De pequeño was playing playing soccer.
Ayer I played playing soccer.

Can the imperfect and the preterite be used together?

Yes. It is very common to use the imperfect to describe a situation that was in progress and the undefined to introduce a specific event.

I was sleeping when the phone It rang.