The Imperfect Tense of preocupar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Me preocupaba por mi familia cuando vivía lejos. (I used to worry about my family when I lived far away.)

Preocupar is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the typical pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Preocupar (to worry) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The imperfect tense of preocupar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, as well as descriptions and states of being.

Expressing worry or concern: For example, Me preocupaba que no llegara a tiempo. (I was worried that he wouldn’t arrive on time.)

Describing an ongoing action or state: For example, Siempre se preocupaba por sus hijos. (She was always worrying about her children.)

Expressing a habitual action: For example, De pequeño, me preocupaba mucho por todo. (When I was little, I used to worry a lot about everything.)

Describing a repeated action: For example, Cada vez que salía, me preocupaba por si había dejado algo encendido. (Every time I went out, I would worry about whether I had left something on.)

Expressing a state of mind or emotion: For example, Estaba muy preocupada por su salud. (She was very worried about his health.)

Examples

Examples of Preocupar in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, siempre me preocupaba por sacar buenas notas en la escuela. (When I was a child, I was always worried about getting good grades in school.)

Mi hermana se preocupaba mucho por su apariencia antes de salir de casa. (My sister used to worry a lot about her appearance before leaving the house.)

Ellos se preocupaban por el futuro de sus hijos y su educación. (They used to worry about the future of their children and their education.)

Tú te preocupabas demasiado por cosas insignificantes, ¿no? (You used to worry too much about insignificant things, didn’t you?)

Yo me preocupaba por llegar tarde al trabajo, así que siempre salía con tiempo de sobra. (I used to worry about being late for work, so I always left with plenty of time.)

Ustedes se preocupaban por ahorrar dinero para el futuro, ¿verdad? (You guys used to worry about saving money for the future, right?)

Ella se preocupaba tanto por su peso que dejó de comer por un tiempo. (She used to worry so much about her weight that she stopped eating for a while.)

Vosotros os preocupabais mucho por el medio ambiente y reciclar, ¿no es así? (You guys used to worry a lot about the environment and recycling, didn’t you?)

Nosotros nos preocupábamos por mantener una buena relación con nuestros vecinos. (We used to worry about maintaining a good relationship with our neighbors.)

¿Te preocupabas por no tener suficiente dinero para pagar las cuentas? (Did you use to worry about not having enough money to pay the bills?)

Ellas se preocupaban por la seguridad de sus hijos cuando salían a jugar. (They used to worry about the safety of their children when they went out to play.)

Vosotros os preocupabais mucho por vuestro futuro profesional, ¿no? (You guys used to worry a lot about your professional future, didn’t you?)

Él se preocupaba por no tener suficiente tiempo para hacer todo lo que quería. (He used to worry about not having enough time to do everything he wanted.)

Ustedes se preocupaban por mantener una buena salud y hacer ejercicio regularmente. (You guys used to worry about maintaining good health and exercising regularly.)

Yo me preocupaba por no poder cumplir con las expectativas de mis padres. (I used to worry about not being able to meet my parents’ expectations.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Preocupar (to worry) in the Imperfect Tense 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.