vivir imperfect tense conjugation
Vivir (to live) in the imperfect tense: vivía, vivías, vivía, vivíamos, vivíais, vivían.
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).
Vivir 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
Vivir in a sentence
- Vivo en Madrid desde 2020.I've lived in Madrid since 2020.
- Vivíamos en el campo de niños.We used to live in the countryside as children.
Regular -ir verb; use 'vivir en' for location.
FAQ
What is the imperfect tense of vivir?
Vivir in the Spanish imperfect tense: yo vivía, tú vivías, él/ella/usted vivía, nosotros vivíamos, vosotros vivíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes vivían.
Is vivir irregular in the imperfect tense?
No. In the imperfect tense vivir takes the regular endings for its verb class, so vivía 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 vivir conjugation, all tenses →
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