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Conjugation Chart of “Recaer” (to relapse) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Recaer”

The Imperfect Tense of recaer is used to describe actions that were ongoing or repeated in the past, for example, Ella recaía en la misma enfermedad cada año. (She would relapse into the same illness every year.)

This verb follows the accented -ía conjugation pattern in the Imperfect Tense, which is common for verbs with stems ending in a vowel.

How to Use Recaer in the Imperfect Tense

The imperfect tense of recaer is used to describe an ongoing or repeated action in the past.

Relapse or fall back into a previous condition: For example, Cada vez que intentaba dejar de fumar, recaía al cabo de unos días. (Every time he tried to quit smoking, he would relapse after a few days.)

Suffer a setback or decline: For example, La economía recaía después de un breve periodo de crecimiento. (The economy would decline after a brief period of growth.)

Figuratively, return to a previous topic or subject: For example, Cada vez que hablábamos de política, recaíamos en las mismas discusiones interminables. (Whenever we talked about politics, we would fall back into the same endless discussions.)

Colloquially, return to a bad habit or vice: For example, Después de un mes sobrio, recayó en el alcohol. (After a month sober, he relapsed into drinking alcohol.)

Real Life Examples of Recaer in the Imperfect Tense

Después de la cirugía, el paciente recaía con frecuencia en sus viejos hábitos poco saludables. (After the surgery, the patient often relapsed into their old unhealthy habits.)

Aunque recaía de vez en cuando, ella seguía luchando contra su adicción. (Although she relapsed from time to time, she kept fighting against her addiction.)

El equipo recaía en su viejo estilo de juego defensivo cuando estaba bajo presión. (The team relapsed into their old defensive playing style when under pressure.)

A pesar de sus esfuerzos, él recaía en la depresión durante los meses de invierno. (Despite his efforts, he relapsed into depression during the winter months.)

Cada vez que recaía en el consumo de drogas, su familia lo apoyaba para que se recuperara. (Whenever he relapsed into drug use, his family supported him to recover.)

La empresa recaía en prácticas poco éticas cuando la competencia era feroz. (The company relapsed into unethical practices when the competition was fierce.)

Aunque recaía en sus malos hábitos de vez en cuando, ella siempre se esforzaba por mejorar. (Although she relapsed into her bad habits from time to time, she always strived to improve.)

El gobierno recaía en políticas proteccionistas cada vez que la economía se desaceleraba. (The government relapsed into protectionist policies whenever the economy slowed down.)

Después de un período de abstinencia, el fumador recaía en su adicción al tabaco. (After a period of abstinence, the smoker relapsed into their tobacco addiction.)

Aunque recaían en sus viejos patrones de comportamiento, la pareja seguía trabajando en su relación. (Although they relapsed into their old behavior patterns, the couple kept working on their relationship.)

El atleta recaía en su lesión antigua cada vez que entrenaba demasiado. (The athlete relapsed into their old injury whenever they overtrained.)

Después de un tiempo de progreso, el estudiante recaía en sus malos hábitos de estudio. (After a period of progress, the student relapsed into their poor study habits.)

Aunque recaíamos en nuestros viejos patrones de discusión, seguíamos trabajando en nuestra comunicación. (Although we relapsed into our old patterns of arguing, we kept working on our communication.)

El equipo de ventas recaía en tácticas agresivas cuando no alcanzaban sus objetivos. (The sales team relapsed into aggressive tactics when they didn’t meet their targets.)

A pesar de sus esfuerzos, el ex convicto recaía en actividades ilegales debido a la falta de oportunidades. (Despite their efforts, the ex-convict relapsed into illegal activities due to a lack of opportunities.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Recaer (to relapse) 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.