necesitar imperfect tense conjugation
Necesitar (to need) in the imperfect tense: necesitaba, necesitabas, necesitaba, necesitábamos, necesitabais, necesitaban.
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).
Necesitar 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
Necesitar in a sentence
- Necesito más tiempo para terminar.I need more time to finish.
- Necesitábamos ayuda con la mudanza.We needed help with the move.
Regular -ar verb; followed by noun or infinitive, no preposition needed.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of necesitar?
Necesitar in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo necesitaba, tú necesitabas, él/ella/usted necesitaba, nosotros necesitábamos, vosotros necesitabais, ellos/ellas/ustedes necesitaban.
Is necesitar irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense necesitar takes the regular endings for its verb class, so necesitaba 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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