Entender imperfect conjugation
Entender in the imperfect: entendía, entendías, entendía, entendíamos, entendíais, entendían.
- to understand
- stem-changing (e→ie)
- Participle: entendido
- Gerund: entendiendo
Imperfect imperfecto
| yo | entendía |
|---|---|
| tú | entendías |
| él/ella/usted | entendía |
| nosotros | entendíamos |
| vosotros | entendíais |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | entendían |
How to use entender in the imperfect
The imperfect (entendía, entendías, entendíamos, entendían) is regular. It describes ongoing understanding, or the lack of it, in the past: cuando llegué a México, no entendía el acento. Use it for background states rather than a moment of realization, which takes the preterite. It is also useful for describing what you used to know about: antes entendía más de fútbol.
Examples
Cuando llegué a Chile no entendía muchas expresiones locales.
When I got to Chile I didn't understand a lot of local expressions.
Mi papá no entendía por qué quería estudiar arte.
My dad didn't understand why I wanted to study art.
Antes entendíamos el proceso, pero ahora es mucho más complicado.
We used to understand the process, but now it's much more complicated.
Quick check: entender in the imperfect
More entender tenses
- All entender tenses
- Entender present
- Entender preterite
- Entender future
- Entender conditional
- Entender present subjunctive
- Entender affirmative commands
Other verbs in the imperfect
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