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Conjugation Chart of “Comprar” (to buy) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Comprar”

The Imperfect Tense of comprar is used to describe ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past, for example, Yo compraba pan todas las mañanas. (I used to buy bread every morning.)

Comprar is a regular -ar verb, so its Imperfect conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

How to Use Comprar in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of comprar is used to describe ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past.

Ongoing action in the past: For example, Cuando era niño, compraba dulces todos los días. (When I was a child, I used to buy sweets every day.)

Repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, Mis padres compraban el pan en la panadería de la esquina. (My parents used to buy bread at the bakery on the corner.)

Description of an action in progress in the past: For example, Mientras compraba los víveres, me encontré con un amigo. (While I was buying groceries, I ran into a friend.)

Idiomatic usage: No me la compraba (I wasn’t buying it, meaning I didn’t believe it or was skeptical).

Real Life Examples of Comprar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo compraba frutas y verduras en el mercado todos los sábados. (I used to buy fruits and vegetables at the market every Saturday.)

Cuando éramos niños, comprábamos dulces después de la escuela. (When we were kids, we used to buy candy after school.)

Mis padres compraban regalos para nosotros en Navidad. (My parents used to buy gifts for us at Christmas.)

Ellos compraban boletos para el cine los viernes por la noche. (They used to buy movie tickets on Friday nights.)

Tú comprabas demasiada ropa y zapatos. (You used to buy too many clothes and shoes.)

Vosotros comprabais entradas para los conciertos con mucha anticipación. (You guys used to buy concert tickets way in advance.)

Ustedes compraban souvenirs en cada lugar que visitaban. (You all used to buy souvenirs at every place you visited.)

Ella compraba revistas de moda cada mes. (She used to buy fashion magazines every month.)

Nosotros comprábamos comida rápida demasiado a menudo. (We used to buy fast food too often.)

¿Comprabas siempre los libros de texto más caros? (Did you always used to buy the most expensive textbooks?)

En la universidad, compraba muchos libros usados para ahorrar dinero. (In college, I used to buy a lot of used books to save money.)

Antes de tener hijos, comprábamos cosas caras sin pensarlo. (Before having kids, we used to buy expensive things without thinking about it.)

Mis abuelos compraban la lotería cada semana. (My grandparents used to buy the lottery every week.)

¿Por qué comprabas tantos videojuegos? (Why did you used to buy so many video games?)

Cuando vivía solo, compraba comida preparada con frecuencia. (When I lived alone, I used to buy prepared food frequently.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Comprar (to buy) in the Imperfect Tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American Spanish, click here

Synonyms

The Imperfect tense is also known as the Past Imperfect, Descriptive Past, Past Progressive, or Imperfect Indicative in English, and as Pretérito Imperfecto, Copretérito, Imperfecto de Indicativo, or Pasado Descriptivo in Spanish.