Ir and the Imperfect Tense

Section 1Ir conjugation

The present tense of ir is voy, vas, va, vamos, vais, van. Example: voy al parque means I go to the park. Watch out: ir is irregular, so it does not follow a normal -ir pattern.

Section 2Uses of the imperfect

The imperfect tense describes what used to happen, what was happening, or what things were like in the past. It is useful for habits, descriptions, age, time, weather, and background details.

Section 3Forming regular imperfect verbs

For -ar verbs, remove -ar and add aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban. For -er and -ir verbs, remove the ending and add ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Here's the trick: -er and -ir share the same imperfect endings.

Section 4Common imperfect examples

Hablaba means I used to speak or I was speaking. Comíamos means we used to eat or we were eating. Vivían means they used to live or they were living.