The Imperfect Tense of romper is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo rompía los platos cuando era niño. (I used to break the plates when I was a child.)

Romper is a regular -er verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the regular pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Romper (to break) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Describing an ongoing action in the past: For example, Rompía las ramas para hacer una fogata. (I was breaking the branches to make a campfire.)

Describing a repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, De niño, siempre rompía sus juguetes. (As a child, I always used to break my toys.)

Describing a state or condition in the past: For example, La ventana rompía el viento. (The window was breaking the wind.)

Idiomatic usage: Romper el hielo (to break the ice, meaning to start a conversation or activity). Romper las pelotas (slang, rude: to annoy or bother someone).

Examples

Examples of Romper in the Imperfect Tense

Yo rompía las reglas con frecuencia cuando era joven. (I used to break the rules frequently when I was young.)

Ella rompía su dieta cada vez que salíamos a cenar. (She would break her diet every time we went out to dinner.)

Nosotros rompíamos el silencio con risas y bromas. (We would break the silence with laughter and jokes.)

Tú rompías mi corazón cada vez que me mentías. (You used to break my heart every time you lied to me.)

Ellos rompían la rutina con viajes espontáneos. (They would break the routine with spontaneous trips.)

¿Rompías los platos cuando te enojabas? (Did you use to break plates when you got angry?)

Mi hermano rompía sus juguetes todo el tiempo. (My brother used to break his toys all the time.)

Antes, rompíamos las reglas sin pensar en las consecuencias. (Before, we used to break the rules without thinking about the consequences.)

Cuando era niño, rompía las ventanas jugando a la pelota. (When I was a kid, I used to break the windows playing ball.)

En la escuela, rompíamos el hielo con juegos y actividades. (At school, we would break the ice with games and activities.)

Ella rompía su promesa de no fumar cada vez que estaba estresada. (She would break her promise not to smoke every time she was stressed.)

¿Rompías las reglas de tránsito cuando tenías prisa? (Did you use to break traffic rules when you were in a hurry?)

Ellos rompían el récord de ventas cada año. (They used to break the sales record every year.)

Nosotros rompíamos la tensión con chistes y bromas. (We would break the tension with jokes and pranks.)

Tú rompías mi confianza cada vez que me mentías. (You used to break my trust every time you lied to me.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Romper (to break) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Latin American Spanish. For Castilian 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.