sentir imperfect tense conjugation
Sentir (to feel) in the imperfect tense: sentía, sentías, sentía, sentíamos, sentíais, sentían.
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).
Sentir 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
Sentir in a sentence
- Siento mucho frío hoy.I feel very cold today.
- Sintió una gran alegría.He felt great joy.
e→ie stem change in present; e→i in preterite/gerund (sintió, sintiendo).
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of sentir?
Sentir in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo sentía, tú sentías, él/ella/usted sentía, nosotros sentíamos, vosotros sentíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes sentían.
Is sentir irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense sentir takes the regular endings for its verb class, so sentía 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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