Ir (to go) is irregular in El Pretérito Imperfecto in Spanish.
Learn how to conjugate "ir" in El Pretérito Imperfecto in Spanish
yo | iba |
tú | 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:
For the conjugation of regular verbs see:
- Conjugate regular -ar verbs in the imperfect tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Imperfecto)
- Conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect tense in Spanish (El Imperfecto)
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Examples and resources
Conjugate ir in the imperfect tense in Spanish (El Pretérito Imperfecto)
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?
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
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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possible error
flit ?
Flirt !
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.
possible error
flit ?
Flirt !
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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
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
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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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.
Hola Marcos,
Yes, you are right!
Here is a lesson precisely on that.
I hope it helps.
Saludos
Inma
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
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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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.
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
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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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?
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
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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Would it be ok to use fuisteis in the honeymoon sentence?
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
Would it be ok to use fuisteis in the honeymoon sentence?
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