Imperfect Indicative in Catalan

In Brief

The Catalan imperfect (imperfet d'indicatiu) presents a past situation from the inside: it was habitual, ongoing, descriptive, or part of the background. Use forms such as cantava (“used to sing/was singing”) and vivíem (“used to live/were living”), rather than the periphrastic past used for a completed event.

Overview

The imperfect is a past tense, meaning a verb form that locates a situation before the present. What makes it distinctive is its aspect (the way a speaker views an action): the imperfect does not present the beginning or end as the main point. It lets you describe what things were like, what was in progress, or what regularly happened.

This is a central B1 topic because Catalan narratives constantly combine it with completed-event tenses. In Plovia quan vaig sortir (“It was raining when I went out”), plovia supplies the ongoing background, while vaig sortir moves the story forward with a completed event. Learning that contrast is more useful than trying to match every imperfect mechanically to one English tense.

English has several possible equivalents. Depending on the context, treballava can mean “worked,” “used to work,” or “was working.” English speakers therefore need to choose the Catalan tense from the meaning of the whole situation, not from the surface form of the English translation.

How It Works

Regular formation

For regular -ar verbs, remove -ar and add the endings -ava, -aves, -ava, -àvem, -àveu, -aven. For most -er/-re and -ir verbs, the characteristic endings are -ia, -ies, -ia, -íem, -íeu, -ien. A stem is the part of the verb that remains before the ending.

Person	cantar (to sing)	perdre (to lose)	dormir (to sleep)
jo	cantava	perdia	dormia
tu	cantaves	perdies	dormies
ell / ella / vostè	cantava	perdia	dormia
nosaltres	cantàvem	perdíem	dormíem
vosaltres	cantàveu	perdíeu	dormíeu
ells / elles / vostès	cantaven	perdien	dormien

Notice the written accents in the first- and second-person plural: cantàvem, cantàveu, perdíem, perdíeu. They mark the stressed syllable and should not be omitted. Catalan usually leaves out subject pronouns when the ending and context make the subject clear: Vivíem a Girona is more natural than stating nosaltres without a reason for emphasis.

Some verbs do not fit a simple “remove the infinitive ending” recipe even though they take the familiar -ia series. Common forms include conèixer → coneixia, escriure → escrivia and viure → vivia. It is best to learn these as complete stems in context.

Three essential irregular verbs

The most important irregular paradigms are ser (“to be”), fer (“to do/make”), and dir (“to say/tell”).

Person	ser	fer	dir
jo	era	feia	deia
tu	eres	feies	deies
ell / ella / vostè	era	feia	deia
nosaltres	érem	fèiem	dèiem
vosaltres	éreu	fèieu	dèieu
ells / elles / vostès	eren	feien	deien

Other very frequent verbs follow the -ia pattern: tenir → tenia, venir → venia, poder → podia, and voler → volia. Veure has veia, veies, veia, vèiem, vèieu, veien. By contrast, anar is regular in this tense: anava, anaves, anava, anàvem, anàveu, anaven.

The main meanings

Past habits and repeated actions

Use the imperfect for something that happened regularly over a period in the past. Expressions such as sempre (“always”), sovint (“often”), cada dia (“every day”), and de petit (“as a child”) often support this reading.

De petit, anava a l'escola a peu. can be translated as “As a child, I used to walk to school.” The word used to is helpful, but it is not required in English for Catalan to use the imperfect.

Descriptions and states

The imperfect describes people, places, weather, time, age, feelings, possession, knowledge, and other states as they existed at a past moment: La casa era petita, Feia fred, Tenia vint anys. These details set the scene rather than announce a new completed event.

Actions in progress

Use it for an action already under way at a relevant past moment: A les nou encara treballava (“At nine, I was still working”). Catalan does not always need the progressive construction estar + gerund (“to be + -ing form”); the simple imperfect often expresses an ongoing action naturally.

Simultaneous background actions

Two imperfects can describe activities unfolding at the same time: Mentre jo cuinava, ella parava taula (“While I was cooking, she was setting the table”). Neither action is presented as the event that interrupts the other.

Imperfect or periphrastic past?

The periphrastic past (passat perifràstic) is built with a conjugated auxiliary form of anar plus an infinitive, as in vaig arribar. It normally presents a completed event as a whole. The imperfect presents the setting, habit, state, or action in progress.

Viewpoint	Imperfect	English	Periphrastic past	English
ongoing vs completed	Llegia el diari.	I was reading the newspaper.	Vaig llegir el diari.	I read the newspaper.
habit vs one event	Hi anàvem cada estiu.	We used to go there every summer.	Hi vam anar l'estiu passat.	We went there last summer.
background vs event	Plovia.	It was raining.	Va començar a ploure.	It started to rain.
state vs change	Estava cansada.	She was tired.	Es va cansar.	She got tired.

This is a difference in viewpoint, not simply in verb type. Even a state can be presented as a bounded, completed fact in a suitable context, and an action can be imperfect when it is habitual or in progress.

Examples in Context

Catalan	English	Note
Quan era petit, jugava al carrer.	When I was little, I used to play in the street.	Age/background plus habit
Plovia molt aquell dia.	It was raining a lot that day.	Weather in progress
Vivíem a Girona.	We used to live in Girona.	Past state
Ella tenia els ulls blaus.	She had blue eyes.	Description
Cada diumenge dinàvem amb els avis.	Every Sunday we had lunch with our grandparents.	Repeated action
A les onze encara dormies.	At eleven you were still sleeping.	Action in progress at a stated time
La plaça era tranquil·la i no hi havia gaire gent.	The square was quiet and there were not many people.	Scene-setting description
Mentre estudiàvem, els veïns feien soroll.	While we were studying, the neighbours were making noise.	Simultaneous ongoing actions
Jo preparava el sopar quan em vas trucar.	I was making dinner when you called me.	Background interrupted by an event
Abans no bevia cafè, però ara sí.	I did not use to drink coffee, but now I do.	Negative past habit
Deien que el restaurant era molt bo.	They said the restaurant was very good.	Repeated/general report and description
No podia obrir la porta perquè no tenia la clau.	I could not open the door because I did not have the key.	Ability and possession as past states
Què fèieu quan se'n va anar la llum?	What were you doing when the power went out?	Ongoing action contrasted with an event
Volia parlar amb la directora.	I wanted to speak to the head teacher.	Past desire; also a polite opening

Common Mistakes

Using the periphrastic past for every past sentence

• Wrong: Quan era petit, vaig jugar al carrer cada dia.
• Right: Quan era petit, jugava al carrer cada dia.
• Why: Cada dia makes this a repeated childhood habit. The periphrastic past would frame the playing as a completed event or bounded series and does not express the intended habitual viewpoint by itself.

Using the imperfect for the interrupting event

• Wrong: Llegia quan sonava el telèfon (if you mean one call interrupted the reading).
• Right: Llegia quan va sonar el telèfon.
• Why: The reading was already in progress, so it is imperfect. The single phone call is the completed event, so it takes the periphrastic past.

Translating English “was/were” automatically with era

• Wrong: Era a casa quan vas arribar.
• Right: Estava a casa quan vas arribar.
• Why: Catalan still distinguishes ser and estar in the past. A temporary location is normally expressed with estar: estava. The imperfect does not remove the need to choose the correct verb.

Building regular-looking forms of ser or fer

• Wrong: Jo serava jove or jo feria esport cada dia.
• Right: Jo era jove; jo feia esport cada dia.
• Why: The imperfects of ser and fer must be learned as era and feia. Do not create them by attaching regular endings to the infinitive.

Forgetting plural accents

• Wrong: Nosaltres cantavem; vosaltres dormieu.
• Right: Nosaltres cantàvem; vosaltres dormíeu.
• Why: The first- and second-person plural forms carry a written accent: -àvem/-àveu for -ar, and -íem/-íeu for the other regular groups.

Assuming used to always means the imperfect

• Wrong approach: choosing the tense from the English phrase alone.
• Better: decide whether Catalan presents a habit or state without focusing on its endpoints.
• Why: English used to strongly suggests the imperfect, but context can instead define a completed, bounded period. Meaning and viewpoint govern the choice.

Usage Notes

The imperfect is frequent in both speech and writing. It is especially common at the beginning of anecdotes, where speakers establish who was present, what the place was like, and what people were doing before the main event: Era de nit, feia fred i caminàvem cap a casa...

Time expressions are clues, not automatic tense selectors. Sempre, normalment, sovint, cada setmana, and mentre often accompany the imperfect. Expressions that locate one finished event, such as ahir de sobte (“suddenly yesterday”), favour a completed-event tense. But the speaker's viewpoint still matters: Ahir a les vuit sopàvem describes what was in progress at eight, despite the precise past time.

For English speakers, simple-past translations can hide the contrast. “I lived in Girona” may be Vivia a Girona when it supplies background or describes an ongoing past situation, but Vaig viure a Girona durant dos anys presents the two-year stay as a completed whole. Add the surrounding context before deciding.

The third-person singular also serves vostè, and the third-person plural serves vostès: Vostè treballava aquí? (“Did you work here?”) and Vostès vivien junts? (“Did you live together?”). This is a person-agreement rule, not a special imperfect form.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Use

Politeness and softened intentions

The imperfect can make a present request or intention less abrupt by placing it at a polite distance. Volia demanar-li una cosa literally resembles “I wanted to ask you something,” but in conversation it can introduce a request being made now. Similarly, Venia a recollir els documents may politely explain the purpose of one's visit: “I've come to collect the documents.” The context, not the tense alone, tells you that the intention is still current.

Reported speech

In reported speech (repeating someone's words without quoting them exactly), a present-tense form may shift to the imperfect after a past reporting verb:

• Direct: «Estic cansada.» — “I'm tired.”
• Reported: Va dir que estava cansada. — “She said that she was tired.”

This use becomes important at B2. The imperfect here does more than describe a scene: it locates the reported state relative to a past act of speaking.

Narrative perspective

Writers can alternate tenses to control pacing. A sequence of periphrastic-past forms reports successive events; an imperfect pauses that sequence to open a window onto the circumstances. Compare Va obrir la porta i va entrar (“She opened the door and went in”) with La gent ballava i la música sonava molt fort (“People were dancing and the music was playing very loudly”). The first advances the timeline; the second creates an internal view of the scene.

Do not reduce this to “long action versus short action.” Duration is not the decisive factor. Va dormir deu hores is completed despite lasting ten hours, while El llum parpellejava can be imperfect even if each flicker was brief. What matters is whether the situation is presented as a bounded whole or from within.

Practice Tips

1. Build paired scenes. Write one background clause in the imperfect and one completed event in the periphrastic past: Caminava pel parc quan va començar a ploure. This trains the contrast rather than isolated endings.
2. Practise three high-value sets aloud. Conjugate cantar, dormir, and the irregular ser. Then replace them with verbs from your own life. Pay special attention to -àvem/-àveu and -íem/-íeu.
3. Retell an old routine. Describe where you lived, what your day was like, and what you usually did five years ago. Circle habits, descriptions, and ongoing states; these are your likely imperfect forms.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Periphrastic Past (Passat Perifràstic) — provides the main completed-event tense contrasted with the imperfect.
• Next step: Past Tense Contrast — compares the imperfect, periphrastic past, and present perfect in full contexts.
• Later connection: Reported Speech — uses the imperfect in common tense backshifts after past reporting verbs.