Grammar · Verbs · A2 · 10 min

The imperfect

Background, habit and scenery: where the sisters agree almost perfectly.

The Latin imperfect CANTĀBAM 'I was singing, I used to sing' survives in all six sisters with its meaning intact. After the mismatch of the spoken past, this is a relief: the imperfect is used in nearly the same way everywhere.

Latin	Spanish	French	Italian	Portuguese	Romanian	Catalan
CANTĀBAM	cantaba	je chantais	cantavo	cantava	cântam	cantava
CANTĀBĀS	cantabas	tu chantais	cantavi	cantavas	cântai	cantaves
CANTĀBAT	cantaba	il chantait	cantava	cantava	cânta	cantava
CANTĀBĀMUS	cantábamos	nous chantions	cantavamo	cantávamos	cântam	cantàvem
CANTĀBĀTIS	cantabais	vous chantiez	cantavate	cantáveis	cântați	cantàveu
CANTĀBANT	cantaban	ils chantaient	cantavano	cantavam	cântau	cantaven

The imperfect of 'to sing'

The rule of use is shared: the imperfect paints the background (what was going on, what things were like, what used to happen); the past tense from the previous lessons reports the event (what happened next).

Da bambino, vivevo in campagna.
De niño, vivía en el campo.
Enfant, je vivais à la campagne.
Quando eu era criança, morava no interior.
Când eram mic, locuiam la țară.
De petit, vivia al camp.
As a child, I lived in the country.
A state that lasted.
Pioveva quando sono uscito.
Llovía cuando salí.
Il pleuvait quand je suis sorti.
Estava chovendo quando eu saí.
Ploua când am ieșit.
Plovia quan vaig sortir.
It was raining when I went out.
Background in the imperfect (Brazilian Portuguese likes its progressive, estava chovendo); the event in each sister's spoken past.
Ogni estate andavamo al mare.
Todos los veranos íbamos a la playa.
Tous les étés, on allait à la plage.
Todo verão a gente ia à praia.
În fiecare vară mergeam la mare.
Cada estiu anàvem a la platja.
Every summer we went to the beach.
Habit. Italians and Romanians go 'to the sea', not 'to the beach'.
Erano le dieci e avevo sonno.
Eran las diez y tenía sueño.
Il était dix heures et j'avais sommeil.
Eram dez horas e eu estava com sono.
Era ora zece și îmi era somn.
Eren les deu i tenia son.
It was ten o'clock and I was sleepy.
Clock time and physical states in the past: imperfect.
Volevo un caffè, per favore.
Quería un café, por favor.
Je voulais un café, s'il vous plaît.
Eu queria um café, por favor.
Aș vrea o cafea, vă rog.
Volia un cafè, si us plau.
I'd like a coffee, please.
The polite imperfect, used at any counter in five sisters; Romanian asks with the conditional, aș vrea.

	Spanish	French	Italian	Portuguese	Romanian	Catalan
to be	era	j'étais	ero	era	eram	era
to go	iba	j'allais	andavo	ia	mergeam	anava
to see	veía	je voyais	vedevo	via	vedeam	veia

Few irregular imperfects: Spanish has three, Portuguese four (era, tinha, vinha, punha); French, Italian and Romanian are regular except for 'to be' (Italian fare, dire, bere just reuse their long stems: facevo); Catalan has a handful in -ia (feia, deia, veia)