Conjugate ir in the imperfect tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Imperfecto)

Ir (to go) is irregular in El Pretérito Imperfecto in Spanish.

Learn how to conjugate "ir" in El Pretérito Imperfecto in Spanish

yo iba
ibas
él / ella / Ud. iba
nosotros / nosotras
íbamos
vosotros / vosotras
ibais
ellos / ellas / Uds.   iban
The only form with a written accent is the nosotros form:  íbamos.


See and listen to these examples:

 
Yo no iba en tren sino en coche.I didn't go by train but by car.

Tú ibas de chica en chica de joven.You used to flit from girl to girl when you were young.

Sofía iba de Madrid a Jaén.Sofía was going from Madrid to Jaen.

Hace años íbamos a ese camping cada verano.Years ago we used to go to that campsite every summer.

¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?Were you going to Ibiza for your honeymoon? [you = vosotros]

Iban de vacaciones a una isla bonita.They were going on holidays to a lovely island.

Recuerdo que ustedes iban a menudo a Irlanda.I remember that you used to go to Ireland often.

For the conjugation of regular verbs see:

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Examples and resources

Iban de vacaciones a una isla bonita.They were going on holidays to a lovely island.
Sofía iba de Madrid a Jaén.Sofía was going from Madrid to Jaen.
Yo no iba en tren sino en coche.I didn't go by train but by car.
Hace años íbamos a ese camping cada verano.Years ago we used to go to that campsite every summer.
Tú ibas de chica en chica de joven.You used to flit from girl to girl when you were young.
Recuerdo que ustedes iban a menudo a Irlanda.I remember that you used to go to Ireland often.
¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?Were you going to Ibiza for your honeymoon? [you = vosotros]
Conjugate ir in the imperfect tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Imperfecto)
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Carlos a Chicago con sus padres. (Carlos was going to Chicago with his parents.)
Conjugate "ir" in El Pretérito Imperfecto.

Q&A Forum 7 questions, 8 answers

Edwin R.C1Kwiziq community member

Imperfect of Ir


The question asked for imperfect for Ir with subjects of "tu y Marcos", and I put "ibais".  This was counted wrong and the correct answer given as "iban".  I could understand both being counted as correct, but why is "ibais" incorrect?
Asked 2 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola Edwin 

This is because your focus is set as Latin American and the "you plural" in Latin America is "ustedes" ( tú y Marcos = ustedes), therefore the conjugation is "iban".

This same question for Spain focus students has the correct answer "ibais" because in Spain this would be "vosotros". 

I hope this clarified your doubt.

Saludos

Inma

Edwin R. asked:

Imperfect of Ir


The question asked for imperfect for Ir with subjects of "tu y Marcos", and I put "ibais".  This was counted wrong and the correct answer given as "iban".  I could understand both being counted as correct, but why is "ibais" incorrect?

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Marc C.A2Kwiziq community member

possible error

You used to flit from girl to girl when you were young.


flit ?

Flirt !

Asked 4 years ago
Martin A.C1Kwiziq community member

No, 'flit' is right here. 'Flirt' is what he would do with each girl when he met them, but 'flit' means he'd regularly move on to another new girl very quickly. It's a translation of 'ir' - i.e. 'you used to go from girl to girl' - but the word 'flit' is much more descriptive and suitable for this example.

Marc C. asked:

possible error

You used to flit from girl to girl when you were young.


flit ?

Flirt !

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Nicole P.B1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Re Lesson referred in your reply to Marco's question

Hola Inma,

I couldn't find the link for the lesson you referred to in your reply, despite doing a search here.

"Do we use "iba" to show intention?"

Could you please give me the link.  And Happy New Year!

Thank you,

Nicole

Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Nicole,

Oops!!! it looks like the link meant to be sent to Marcos with that lesson didn't work at all! Thanks for bringing this to our attention. 

Here it is.

Inma

Nicole P. asked:

Re Lesson referred in your reply to Marco's question

Hola Inma,

I couldn't find the link for the lesson you referred to in your reply, despite doing a search here.

"Do we use "iba" to show intention?"

Could you please give me the link.  And Happy New Year!

Thank you,

Nicole

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Marcos G.C1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Do we use "iba" to show intention?

It seems like two of the examples use the imperfect to express an intended action.

¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?

Iban de vacaciones a una isla bonita.

In English we would say this as "Were you going to go..." and "They were going to go..."  We don't know if these actions were ever completed or not, so it makes sense to use the imperfect tense.

Is this a valid interpretation and use of the imperfect tense?  Thanks.


Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Marcos,

Yes, you are right! 

Here is a lesson precisely on that. 

I hope it helps.

Saludos

Inma

InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Marcos,

sorry, I just realised the link to this lesson didn't work when I sent it. Here it is. Try again please.

Inma

Marcos G. asked:

Do we use "iba" to show intention?

It seems like two of the examples use the imperfect to express an intended action.

¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?

Iban de vacaciones a una isla bonita.

In English we would say this as "Were you going to go..." and "They were going to go..."  We don't know if these actions were ever completed or not, so it makes sense to use the imperfect tense.

Is this a valid interpretation and use of the imperfect tense?  Thanks.


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Emanuel B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Substitute with Pretérito perfecto

It seems to me that in many cases we could substitute the imperfect with perfect. The main difference would be that in the former we talk about a repeated activity and in the latter about whether something ever took place or a few times at the most.

Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

Hola Emanuel

Yes, you could use El Perfecto in lots of these sentences, especially the ones with no time markers, for example in these two:

Sofía iba de Madrid a Jaén.

Sofía was going/ used to go from Madrid to Jaen.

Sofía ha ido de Madrid a Jaén.

Sofía went from Madrid to Jaen.

On this last sentence using El Perfecto, this is talking about either a specific journey that Sofía did at some point in the past without specifying when exactly or simply a sentence explaining part of her trip, again without specyfing on when. 

Saludos

Inma

 

Emanuel B. asked:

Substitute with Pretérito perfecto

It seems to me that in many cases we could substitute the imperfect with perfect. The main difference would be that in the former we talk about a repeated activity and in the latter about whether something ever took place or a few times at the most.

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Emanuel B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Luna de miel

Could I also say por vuestra luna de miel? In case I would like to emphasize the reason for going here, not the timeframe?

Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish TeacherCorrect answer

Hola Emanuel,

Yes, we could have used "por" in this sentence if we meant "because of"Here is the lesson for this usage of por.

Saludos,

Inma

Emanuel B. asked:

Luna de miel

Could I also say por vuestra luna de miel? In case I would like to emphasize the reason for going here, not the timeframe?

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Emanuel B.C1Kwiziq Q&A regular contributor

Would it be ok to use fuisteis in the honeymoon sentence?

Asked 5 years ago
InmaKwiziq Head of Spanish, Native Spanish Teacher

 

Hola Emanuel

Yes, it would be correct but the meaning would change:

¿Fuisteis a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?

Did you go to Ibiza for your honeymoon?

¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?

Were you going to Ibiza for your honeymoon?

The preterite is expressing a completed action in the past while the imperfect is expressing an ongoing action "to be doing something in the past", or in this case with verb "ir" it has a specific nuance, as if you were saying "Were you planning to go to Ibiza for your honeymoon?

Saludos

Inma

 

Emanuel B. asked:

Would it be ok to use fuisteis in the honeymoon sentence?

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