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Past imperfect of irregular verbs: "ser, ir, ver"

Clear and simple explanation about the imperfect tense of the irregular verbs "ser", "ir" and "ver".

Gramática: Pretérito imperfecto de los verbos irregulares: "ser, ir, ver“

B1 Spanish Imperfect past irregular verbs

Level: B1

Module 2: Medios de comunicación cotidianos (Everyday media)

Lesson 12: Música: ayer y hoy (Music: yesterday and today)

Teaching guidelines +/- 15 minutes

Audio and video

Audio with translations
Audio with translations

  1. In the imperfect past tense there are only three irregular verbs: "ser, ir, ver".
PronombreSerIrVerEjemplo 
Yo Era IbaVeíaEl músico era muy famoso y siempre interpretaba canciones en vivo. (The musician was very famous and always performed songs live.)
Tú  Eras IbasVeíasCuando eras niño siempre veías videoclips de canciones modernas. (When you were a child you always watched music videos of modern songs.)
Él/ Ella/ Usted Era Iba VeíaLa canción que veía en el canal de música era parte del álbum clásico. (The song that I saw on the music channel was part of the classic album.)
Nosotros/-asÉramosÍbamos VeíamosÍbamos a los conciertos de música clásica porque éramos fanáticos de las letras. (We went to classical music concerts because we were fans of the lyrics.)
Vosotros/-as Erais Ibais VeíaisCuando erais jóvenes veíais siempre el canal de música para descubrir nuevas canciones. (When you were young, you always watched the music channel to discover new songs.)
Ellos/-as/ UstedesEran Iban VeíanLos miembros del grupo eran talentosos y siempre componían letras inolvidables. (The members of the group were talented and always composed unforgettable lyrics.)

Exercise 1: Past imperfect of irregular verbs: "ser, ir, ver"

Instruction: Fill in the correct word.

Show translation Show answers

éramos, eran, íbamos, iba, ibais, veías, veíamos, era

1. Ser:
El músico ... muy talentoso y siempre componía canciones para el grupo.
(The musician was very talented and always composed songs for the group.)
2. Ir:
Cuando yo era niño ... al canal de música para ver videoclips de canciones modernas.
(When I was a child, I used to go to the music channel to watch video clips of modern songs.)
3. Ver:
Mientras el grupo interpretaba su éxito en vivo nosotros ... todo el concierto desde casa.
(While the group was performing their hit live, we were watching the whole concert from home.)
4. Ser:
Las letras de las canciones clásicas ... más poética que las de las canciones modernas.
(The lyrics of classical songs were more poetic than those of modern songs.)
5. Ir:
Nosotros ... a los conciertos de ese grupo porque sus álbumes eran espectaculares.
(We used to go to that band's concerts because their albums were spectacular.)
6. Ver:
Cuando ... el videoclip de la canción siempre querías añadirla a la lista de reproducción.
(When you used to watch the music video of the song, you always wanted to add it to the playlist.)
7. Ser:
Antes nosotros ... muy aficionados a la música clásica pero hoy preferimos la música moderna.
(Before, we used to be very fond of classical music but today we prefer modern music.)
8. Ir:
Cuando erais jóvenes siempre ... a los festivales para ver a los músicos interpretar sus canciones en vivo.
(When you were young, you always went to festivals to see the musicians perform their songs live.)

Exercise 2: Translate and use in a sentence

Instruction: Pick a word, translated and use the word in a sentence or dialogue.

1

íbamos

we used to go

2

veían

they watched

3

veías

you watched

4

ibais

you used to go

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