Imperfect Tense ( I Used To Do )

Question 1

What is the usage of the imperfect tense?

Answer 1

• to describe what something was like in the past (descriptions)
  el cine era viejo - the cinema was old
• to say what someone or something used to do (habitual or repeated actions)
  Le encantaba leer autores clásicos - he used to love reading classical authors
• to describe an ongoing action in the past, for example an action that was interrupted by something else that happened
  Trabajaba cuando llamó - I was working when he called

Question 2

How do you form regular verbs in the imperfect tense?

Answer 2

AR - aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban
ER,IR - ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían

Question 3

How do you form irregular verbs, in the imperfect tense? Ser, ir, ver

Answer 3

Ser - era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
Ir - iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban
ver - veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían

Question 4

When do you use the imperfect continuous?

Answer 4

If you want to describe an ‘ongoing action’ more vividly, formed from the imperfect of estar plus the gerund (ando, iendo)
Estaba viendo un DVD cuando llegó mi novia
I was watching a DVD when my girlfriend arrived