In Spanish, some verbs can be a bit tricky, especially when we use the imperfect tense. This means they don’t follow the regular rules we usually expect. Let’s look at the main irregular verbs and how we change them:

1. Ser (to be)

• Yo era (I was)
• Tú eras (You were)
• Él/Ella/Usted era (He/She/You were)
• Nosotros éramos (We were)
• Vosotros erais (You all were)
• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes eran (They/You all were)

2. Ir (to go)

• Yo iba (I went)
• Tú ibas (You went)
• Él/Ella/Usted iba (He/She/You went)
• Nosotros íbamos (We went)
• Vosotros ibais (You all went)
• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes iban (They/You all went)

3. Ver (to see)

• Yo veía (I saw)
• Tú veías (You saw)
• Él/Ella/Usted veía (He/She/You saw)
• Nosotros veíamos (We saw)
• Vosotros veíais (You all saw)
• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes veían (They/You all saw)

When to Use These Verbs

We use the imperfect tense for actions that happened often or over a long time in the past.

For example:

• Cuando era niño, iba a la playa cada verano.
  (When I was a child, I went to the beach every summer.)

This sentence tells us about something that happened more than once, not just a single time!