Editing Spanish grammar (section)

==== Imperfect or "copretérito" ====
The imperfect expresses actions or states that are viewed as ongoing in the past. For example:
* {{lang|es|Yo era cómico en el pasado}} (I was/used to be funny in the past).
* {{lang|es|Usted comía mucho}} (You ate a lot – literally, this sentence is saying "You used to eat a lot", saying that in the past, the person being referred to had a characteristic of "eating a lot").
* {{lang|es|Ellos escuchaban la radio}} (They were listening to the radio).
All three of the sentences above describe "non-instantaneous" actions that are viewed as continuing in the past. The characteristic in the first sentence and the action in the second were continuous, not instantaneous occurrences. In the third sentence, the speaker focuses on the action in progress, not on its beginning or end.

{|class="wikitable"
|+Imperfect forms of the regular {{lang|es|italic=yes|-ar}} verb {{lang|es|italic=yes|hablar}} ('to speak')
|-
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!First person
|{{lang|es|(yo) habl'''aba'''}}||{{lang|es|(nosotros/-as) habl'''ábamos'''}}
|-
!Second person familiar
|{{lang|es|(tú, vos) habl'''abas'''}}||{{lang|es|(vosotros/-as) habl'''abais'''}}
|-
!Second person formal
|{{lang|es|(usted) habl'''aba'''}}||{{lang|es|(ustedes) habl'''aban'''}}
|-
!Third person
|{{lang|es|(él, ella) habl'''aba'''}}||{{lang|es|(ellos, ellas) habl'''aban'''}}
|}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Imperfect forms of the regular {{lang|es|italic=yes|-er}} verb {{lang|es|italic=yes|comer}} ('to eat')
|-
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!First person
|{{lang|es|(yo) com'''ía'''}}||{{lang|es|(nosotros/-as) com'''íamos'''}}
|-
!Second person familiar
|{{lang|es|(tú, vos) com'''ías'''}}||{{lang|es|(vosotros/-as) com'''íais'''}}
|-
!Second person formal
|{{lang|es|(usted) com'''ía'''}}||{{lang|es|(ustedes) com'''ían'''}}
|-
!Third person
|{{lang|es|(él, ella) com'''ía'''}}||{{lang|es|(ellos, ellas) com'''ían'''}}
|}

{|class="wikitable"
|+Imperfect forms of the regular {{lang|es|italic=yes|-ir}} verb {{lang|es|italic=yes|vivir}} ('to live')
|-
!
!Singular
!Plural
|-
!First person
|{{lang|es|(yo) viv'''ía'''}}||{{lang|es|(nosotros/-as) viv'''íamos'''}}
|-
!Second person familiar
|{{lang|es|(tú, vos) viv'''ías'''}}||{{lang|es|(vosotros/-as) viv'''íais'''}}
|-
!Second person formal
|{{lang|es|(usted) viv'''ía'''}}||{{lang|es|(ustedes) viv'''ían'''}}
|-
!Third person
|{{lang|es|(él, ella) viv'''ía'''}}||{{lang|es|(ellos, ellas) viv'''ían'''}}
|}

Note that (1) for all verbs in the imperfect, the first- and third-person singular share the same form; and (2) {{lang|es|italic=yes|-er}} and {{lang|es|italic=yes|-ir}} verbs share the same set of endings.