Imperfect Irregular Verbs: Ser, Ir, and Ver

Here is one of the most encouraging facts about Spanish grammar: the imperfect tense has only three irregular verbs. Just three! Compare this to the preterite, which has dozens of irregulars. The imperfect is remarkably regular — and the three exceptions (ser, ir, ver) are easy to learn.

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Ser (to be) — Imperfect

Person	Conjugation	Translation
yo	era	I was / I used to be
tú	eras	you were / you used to be
él / ella / usted	era	he/she was / used to be
nosotros / nosotras	éramos	we were / we used to be
vosotros / vosotras	erais	you all were / you all used to be
ellos / ellas / ustedes	eran	they were / they used to be

When to Use Ser in the Imperfect

The imperfect of ser is used for: