# The only three irregular imperfects: era, iba, veía

> id: conjugation.imperfect.irregular · category: conjugation · depth: standard · levels: A2 · review: internally_reviewed

**Summary.** Every Spanish verb has a regular imperfect except three: ser → era, ir → iba, ver → veía.

The imperfect is the most regular tense in Spanish: only ser, ir, and ver break the pattern. Ser: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran. Ir: iba, ibas, iba, íbamos, ibais, iban. Ver: veía, veías, veía, veíamos, veíais, veían.

Ver is barely irregular — it just keeps the e of the old stem (ve- + -ía instead of v- + -ía).

Everything else, including tener, hacer, poder, and all stem-changers, is perfectly regular in the imperfect: tenía, hacía, podía, pensaba, dormía.

## Examples
- Cuando era niño, vivía en Montreal. — When I was a kid, I lived in Montreal.
- Íbamos a la playa todos los veranos. — We used to go to the beach every summer.
- Veía mucha televisión antes. — I used to watch a lot of TV.

Related: conjugation.imperfect.regular, conjugation.preterite.ser-ir

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