The Imperfect Tense of Caer is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Cuando era niño, caía de la bicicleta con frecuencia (When I was a child, I used to fall off the bicycle frequently).

This verb follows the accented -ía conjugation pattern in the Imperfect Tense, so the endings are: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -ían.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Caer (to fall) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Falling or dropping: Por ejemplo, de niño siempre me caía de la bicicleta (As a child, I was always falling off my bike). This can also be used figuratively, like me caía bien tu amigo (I liked your friend).

Happening or occurring: For example, la fiesta caía en domingo (the party fell on a Sunday). Or me caía muy lejos ir al trabajo (it was very far for me to go to work).

Declining or decreasing: For example, las ventas caían cada mes (sales were declining every month). Or with the idiomatic phrase caer la noche (night was falling).

Realizing or understanding: For example, al fin me caía la ficha (I finally realized/understood). This can also mean “to click” or make sense, like no me caía lo que decía (what he was saying didn’t make sense to me).

Colloquial/slang usages: Caer mal means to rub someone the wrong way, like tu comentario me cayó mal (your comment rubbed me the wrong way). Caer gordo/a means to be disliked, like ese tipo me cae gordo (I really dislike that guy). And the rude phrase caer de culo means to be very surprised or caught off guard.

Examples

Examples of Caer in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando caía la noche, nos reuníamos en la plaza para charlar. (When night fell, we would gather in the square to chat.)

De niño, caía enfermo con frecuencia durante el invierno. (As a child, I would often fall ill during the winter.)

Cada vez que caía una estrella, pedía un deseo. (Whenever a shooting star fell, I would make a wish.)

La lluvia caía sin cesar durante días enteros. (The rain fell incessantly for days on end.)

Ellos caían en la trampa una y otra vez. (They kept falling for the trap over and over again.)

Yo caía rendido después de un día agotador. (I would collapse exhausted after a grueling day.)

Las hojas caían lentamente de los árboles en otoño. (The leaves would slowly fall from the trees in autumn.)

Tú caías en la tentación cada vez que pasábamos por la pastelería. (You would succumb to temptation whenever we passed by the bakery.)

El equipo caía en un bache cada vez que perdía un partido importante. (The team would hit a slump whenever they lost an important game.)

Nosotros caíamos en la rutina de trabajar y dormir. (We would fall into the routine of working and sleeping.)

Ella caía en cuenta de sus errores tarde o temprano. (She would eventually realize her mistakes.)

Los precios caían drásticamente durante las rebajas. (Prices would drop dramatically during the sales.)

Ustedes caían en la trampa de comprar cosas innecesarias. (You all would fall into the trap of buying unnecessary things.)

La nieve caía suavemente sobre el paisaje invernal. (The snow would gently fall on the winter landscape.)

Ellas caían en la cuenta de que necesitaban un cambio de rumbo. (They would realize that they needed a change of direction.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Caer (to fall) 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.