The Imperfect: Background Past

The imperfect is for background, ongoing past, repeated past, and descriptions in the past.

If the preterite is a photo of an event, the imperfect is the video or the scenery.

The big three

era

I was · it was, identity/description

estaba

I was · it was, location/state

tenía

I had

Regular imperfect patterns

For -ar verbs:

hablaba

I was speaking · I used to speak

trabajaba

I was working · I used to work

For -er and -ir verbs:

comía

I was eating · I used to eat

vivía

I was living · I used to live

Use it for “used to”

Vivía en California.

I used to live in California.

Trabajaba en una empresa grande.

I used to work at a big company.

Comía muy tarde.

I used to eat very late.

Use it for background

La oficina estaba llena.

The office was full.

Había mucha gente.

There were many people.

El trámite era sencillo.

The procedure was simple.

Había means “there was” or “there were.” It is extremely useful and does not change for singular/plural.

Drill: describe the scene

You are not reporting one finished action here. You are setting the scene.