The Imperfect Tense of asustar is used to describe ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past, for example, Mis hermanos me asustaban con historias de terror. (My siblings used to scare me with horror stories.)

Asustar is a regular -ar verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the typical pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Asustar (to frighten) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

To frighten or scare: For example, Los truenos asustaban a los niños. (The thunders frightened the children.)

To startle or surprise: For example, El ruido fuerte me asustaba cuando estudiaba. (The loud noise startled me when I was studying.)

To intimidate or threaten (colloquial): For example, El pandillero asustaba a los vecinos con su actitud agresiva. (The gang member intimidated the neighbors with his aggressive attitude.)

To scare someone off (colloquial): For example, La policía asustaba a los vendedores ambulantes. (The police scared off the street vendors.)

Examples

Examples of Asustar in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, los truenos asustaban a mi hermana menor. (When we were kids, the thunder used to scare my little sister.)

Las películas de terror nunca me asustaban. (Horror movies never scared me.)

Mi perro se asustaba con los fuegos artificiales en año nuevo. (My dog would get scared by the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.)

Los ruidos extraños en la casa vieja me asustaban un poco. (The strange noises in the old house kind of scared me.)

A veces, las arañas grandes asustaban a mi mamá. (Sometimes, big spiders would scare my mom.)

Cuando se asustaba, mi abuela rezaba oraciones. (When she got scared, my grandma would pray.)

Los payasos asustaban a los niños en la fiesta. (The clowns were scaring the kids at the party.)

Esa película de fantasmas me asustaba de chiquito. (That ghost movie used to scare me when I was little.)

Las noticias sobre crímenes violentos asustaban a la gente en el vecindario. (The news about violent crimes would scare people in the neighborhood.)

El jefe asustaba a los empleados cuando gritaba. (The boss would scare the employees when he yelled.)

Esa película de terror asustaba hasta a los adultos. (That horror movie even scared adults.)

Los ladrones asustaban a la gente cuando robaban casas. (The burglars would scare people when they robbed houses.)

Cuando se asustaba, mi amigo no podía dormir bien. (When he got scared, my friend couldn’t sleep well.)

Las noticias sobre desastres naturales asustaban a mucha gente. (The news about natural disasters would scare a lot of people.)

Los rumores sobre fantasmas asustaban a los niños en el campamento. (The ghost rumors would scare the kids at camp.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Asustar (to frighten) 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.