The Imperfect Tense of cenar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Yo cenaba a las 8 p.m. todos los días. (I used to have dinner at 8 p.m. every day.)

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

Conjugations

Conjugations of Cenar (to have dinner) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Describing an ongoing action in the past: For example, Yo cenaba cuando sonó el timbre. (I was having dinner when the doorbell rang.)

Describing a repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, De niño, cenaba temprano todos los días. (As a child, I had dinner early every day.)

Describing a past action without a specific beginning or end: For example, Cenábamos en familia los domingos. (We used to have dinner as a family on Sundays.)

Expressing an action that was happening at a specific time in the past: For example, Anoche a las 8, cenábamos en el restaurante. (Last night at 8, we were having dinner at the restaurant.)

Colloquial usage: For example, ¿Qué cenabas anoche, mamá? (What were you having for dinner last night, mom?) – Used informally to ask about someone’s meal.

Examples

Examples of Cenar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo cenaba con mis amigos todos los viernes. (I used to have dinner with my friends every Friday.)

Cuando era niño, mi familia cenaba temprano. (When I was a child, my family used to have dinner early.)

Mis padres cenaban en restaurantes elegantes los fines de semana. (My parents used to dine at fancy restaurants on weekends.)

En la universidad, cenábamos comida rápida con frecuencia. (In college, we often had fast food for dinner.)

Ellos cenaban afuera cada vez que podían. (They used to dine out whenever they could.)

Antes de tener hijos, la pareja cenaba tarde. (Before having kids, the couple used to have dinner late.)

Cuando vivía solo, cenaba lo que me apetecía. (When I lived alone, I used to have whatever I felt like for dinner.)

En vacaciones, cenábamos platillos típicos de la región. (On vacation, we used to have typical dishes from the region for dinner.)

Mis abuelos cenaban temprano y veían la televisión después. (My grandparents used to have an early dinner and watch TV afterwards.)

Durante la cuarentena, cenábamos en casa todas las noches. (During the quarantine, we used to have dinner at home every night.)

Antes de tener un trabajo exigente, cenaba con calma. (Before having a demanding job, I used to have dinner at a leisurely pace.)

En su juventud, ella cenaba con amigos en bares. (In her youth, she used to have dinner with friends at bars.)

Cuando éramos estudiantes, cenábamos lo que fuera barato. (When we were students, we used to have whatever was cheap for dinner.)

Mis tíos cenaban en familia los domingos. (My uncles used to have family dinners on Sundays.)

De niños, cenábamos lo que nuestros padres cocinaban. (As children, we used to have whatever our parents cooked for dinner.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Cenar (to have dinner) 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.