llegar imperfect tense conjugation
Llegar (to arrive) in the imperfect tense: llegaba, llegabas, llegaba, llegábamos, llegabais, llegaban.
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).
Llegar 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
Llegar in a sentence
- Llego a casa a las seis.I arrive home at six.
- Llegaron tarde a la fiesta.They arrived late to the party.
Spelling change g→gu before 'e' in preterite yo form 'llegué'; used with preposition 'a'.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of llegar?
Llegar in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo llegaba, tú llegabas, él/ella/usted llegaba, nosotros llegábamos, vosotros llegabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes llegaban.
Is llegar irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense llegar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so llegaba 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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