existir imperfect tense conjugation
Existir (to exist) in the imperfect tense: existía, existías, existía, existíamos, existíais, existían.
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).
Existir 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
Existir in a sentence
- Existen muchas soluciones.Many solutions exist.
- Ese problema existió siempre.That problem always existed.
Regular -ir verb; often used impersonally similar to 'hay'.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of existir?
Existir in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo existía, tú existías, él/ella/usted existía, nosotros existíamos, vosotros existíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes existían.
Is existir irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense existir takes the regular endings for its verb class, so existía 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).
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