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KEY GRAMMAR CONCEPTS
IRREGULAR VERBS IN THE IMPERFECT TENSE
As you learned in the last lesson, there are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense: “ir,” “ser,” and “ver.” Every other verb is completely regular — no stem changes, no strange spelling, no tricks.
Here are the three verbs that are irregular in the imperfect:
¡CUIDADO!
At first glance, some students wonder why “ver” is irregular. If it were regular, however, the conjugations would be: *vía, vías, vía, etc., and not veía, veías, and veía, etc.
EXAMPLES
Let’s look at these common verbs in action:
Eran las diez de la noche cuando me dormí.
It was ten p.m. when I fell asleep.
Mientras íbamos a la casa de la abuela, tuvimos un accidente.
When we were going to Grandma’s house, we had an accident.
Yo siempre veía a mi tío cuando vivía en La Paz.
I always used to see my uncle when I lived in La Paz.
Mi profesora de inglés era una mujer alta.
My English teacher was a tall woman.
Taylor Swift y David Bisbal iban a cantar en Central Park el año pasado.
Taylor Swift and David Bisbal were going to sing in Central Park last year.
Cuando éramos niños, veíamos el programa I Love Lucy porque Desi Arnaz fue uno de los primeros actores cubanos en la televisión.
When we were kids, we used to watch the show I Love Lucy because Desi Arnaz was one of the first Cuban actors on television.
Era la una y media de la mañana cuando mi hermano mayor volvió a casa; mis padres estaban furiosos.
It was one-thirty in the morning when my older brother returned home; my parents were furious.