the Spanish imperfect continuous

when to use it

Use it when you want to make it clear that an action was under way and got interrupted: estaba durmiendo cuando llamaste. The plain imperfect can say the same thing, so this tense is a choice rather than a requirement - and it is a good one to reach for when an examiner is looking for range.

Words that tend to sit with it: mientras, cuando (something interrupted)

• estaba durmiendo cuando llamaste ~ I was sleeping when you called
• estábamos viendo la tele ~ we were watching TV

how to build it

Two parts: estar (imperfect), which changes for the person, and the gerund (the -ing word), which does not.

one verb from each group

The three regular patterns side by side, so the only thing changing between columns is the group the verb belongs to.

what goes wrong

Putting the interrupting verb in this tense too. The thing that interrupts is a completed event and takes the preterite: estaba viendo la tele cuando entró mi hermana.

Estar is regular in the imperfect, so the only traps are the same irregular gerunds as the present continuous - durmiendo, pidiendo, diciendo, leyendo.

common questions

how do you form the imperfect continuous in Spanish?

Conjugate estar in the imperfect - estaba, estabas, estaba, estábamos, estabais, estaban - and add the gerund. Estar is completely regular in the imperfect, so the only irregular part is the gerund itself.

what is the difference between the imperfect and the imperfect continuous?

They overlap, and both are correct. Hablaba can mean I used to speak or I was speaking; estaba hablando can only mean I was speaking. Use the continuous when you specifically want the sense of an action under way at that moment.