esperar imperfect tense conjugation
Esperar (to wait, to hope) in the imperfect tense: esperaba, esperabas, esperaba, esperábamos, esperabais, esperaban.
Pretérito imperfecto Imperfect
| yo | |
|---|---|
| tú | |
| él/ella/usted | |
| nosotros | |
| vosotros | |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes |
ending regular · irr breaks the pattern · tap a form to hear it
When to use the imperfect tense
The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions (“was doing”), descriptions, age and time. “Cuando era niño, vivía en Sevilla.”
How it is formed
Regular endings: -ar → aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban; -er/-ir → ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
Esperar is regular here, so it is a good model for other verbs of the same class.
Read more: Preterite vs imperfect: when to use each
Esperar in a sentence
- Espero el autobús cada día.I wait for the bus every day.
- Esperaba que vinieras.I was hoping you would come.
Regular -ar verb; means both 'to wait for' and 'to hope'.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of esperar?
Esperar in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo esperaba, tú esperabas, él/ella/usted esperaba, nosotros esperábamos, vosotros esperabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes esperaban.
Is esperar irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense esperar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so esperaba follows the same pattern as any regular verb.
When do you use the Spanish imperfect tense?
The imperfect (pretérito imperfecto) describes the past as background: habits (“used to”), ongoing actions (“was doing”), descriptions, age and time. “Cuando era niño, vivía en Sevilla.”
How is the imperfect tense formed?
Regular endings: -ar → aba, abas, aba, ábamos, abais, aban; -er/-ir → ía, ías, ía, íamos, íais, ían. Only three verbs are irregular in the imperfect: ser (era), ir (iba) and ver (veía).
Full esperar conjugation, all tenses →
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