haber imperfect tense conjugation
Haber (to have (auxiliary) / there is) in the imperfect tense: había, habías, había, habíamos, habíais, habían.
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).
Haber 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
Haber in a sentence
- Hay tres libros en la mesa.There are three books on the table.
- Ella ha comido ya.She has already eaten.
Auxiliary verb for compound tenses; 'hay' means 'there is/are', highly irregular.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of haber?
Haber in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo había, tú habías, él/ella/usted había, nosotros habíamos, vosotros habíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes habían.
Is haber irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense haber takes the regular endings for its verb class, so había 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 haber conjugation, all tenses →
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