The Imperfect Tense of ser is used to describe ongoing or repeated states or conditions in the past, for example, Yo era estudiante. (I was a student.)

Ser is an irregular verb, meaning its conjugations do not follow a set pattern across all subjects in the Imperfect Tense.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Ser (to be) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

The imperfect tense of ser is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions, states of being, or characteristics in the past.

Describing an ongoing action in the past: For example, Yo era estudiante en la universidad. (I was a student at the university.)

Describing a repeated action in the past: For example, Mis abuelos eran muy cariñosos. (My grandparents were very affectionate.)

Describing a state of being or characteristic in the past: For example, Ella era alta y delgada. (She was tall and thin.)

Describing the time or weather in the past: For example, Eran las tres de la tarde. (It was three o’clock in the afternoon.) Hacía calor y era un día soleado. (It was hot and it was a sunny day.)

Expressing age in the past: For example, Cuando era niño, me encantaba jugar al fútbol. (When I was a child, I loved to play soccer.)

Expressing location in the past: For example, La fiesta era en el parque. (The party was in the park.)

Expressing possession in the past: For example, Ese carro era de mi tío. (That car was my uncle’s.)

Expressing physical or emotional states in the past: For example, Estaba cansado porque era un día muy largo. (I was tired because it was a very long day.) Éramos felices en ese entonces. (We were happy back then.)

Examples

Examples of Ser in the Imperfect Tense

Yo era de una familia de músicos, todos tocábamos algún instrumento. (I was from a family of musicians, we all played some instrument.)

La reunión era todos los martes a las tres de la tarde. (The meeting was every Tuesday at three in the afternoon.)

Mi abuelo era carpintero, hacía los muebles más hermosos del pueblo. (My grandfather was a carpenter, he made the most beautiful furniture in town.)

Nosotros éramos primos por parte de mi madre. (We were cousins on my mother’s side.)

Tú eras profesor de matemáticas en la escuela secundaria. (You were a math teacher at the high school.)

El concierto era a beneficio de la comunidad. (The concert was for the benefit of the community.)

Ellos eran hermanos gemelos, idénticos en todo sentido. (They were twin brothers, identical in every way.)

Mi tía era la dueña de la panadería más antigua del centro. (My aunt was the owner of the oldest bakery downtown.)

Las fiestas del pueblo eran en julio, durante la época de cosecha. (The town festivities were in July, during harvest time.)

Ella era la menor de cinco hermanos. (She was the youngest of five siblings.)

El edificio era del siglo diecinueve, todo de piedra. (The building was from the nineteenth century, all made of stone.)

Nosotros éramos del mismo barrio pero de diferentes generaciones. (We were from the same neighborhood but from different generations.)

Tú eras el responsable de organizar los eventos culturales. (You were the person responsible for organizing cultural events.)

La ceremonia era una tradición que pasaba de generación en generación. (The ceremony was a tradition that passed from generation to generation.)

Los abuelos eran de origen indígena, preservaban todas las costumbres. (The grandparents were of indigenous origin, they preserved all the customs.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Ser (to be) 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.