The Imperfect Tense of atenerse is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Me atenía a las reglas de la casa cuando era niño. (I used to follow the house rules when I was a child.)

This verb follows the standard conjugation pattern for regular verbs ending in -er in the Imperfect Tense, with the ending -ía added to the stem.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Atenerse (to abide by) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

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

To abide by or follow rules/guidelines: For example, Me atenía a las reglas del juego. (I abided by the rules of the game.)

To stick to or limit oneself to something: For example, Me atenía a lo que me dijeron. (I stuck to what they told me.)

To rely on or base oneself on something: For example, Me atenía a los hechos. (I relied on the facts.)

To conform or adapt to something: For example, Me atenía a las circunstancias. (I conformed to the circumstances.)

Examples

Examples of Atenerse in the Imperfect Tense

Yo me atenía a las reglas del juego. (I was abiding by the rules of the game.)

Ella se atenía a una dieta estricta para mantenerse saludable. (She was sticking to a strict diet to stay healthy.)

Nosotros nos ateníamos a los consejos del guía turístico. (We were following the tour guide’s advice.)

Tú te atenías a tus principios, sin importar las circunstancias. (You were sticking to your principles, no matter the circumstances.)

Ellos se atenían a las instrucciones del manual de usuario. (They were following the instructions in the user manual.)

Ustedes se atenían a las normas de la empresa. (You were adhering to the company’s policies.)

Vosotros os ateníais a las tradiciones familiares durante las fiestas. (You were following family traditions during the holidays.)

Él se atenía a un presupuesto ajustado para ahorrar dinero. (He was sticking to a tight budget to save money.)

Ellas se atenían al plan de entrenamiento para prepararse para la maratón. (They were following the training plan to prepare for the marathon.)

Yo me atenía a las recomendaciones del médico para recuperarme de la enfermedad. (I was following the doctor’s recommendations to recover from the illness.)

Tú te atenías a las reglas de etiqueta en la cena formal. (You were following the etiquette rules at the formal dinner.)

Nosotros nos ateníamos al código de conducta en el lugar de trabajo. (We were adhering to the code of conduct at the workplace.)

Ellos se atenían a los plazos establecidos para entregar el proyecto a tiempo. (They were sticking to the deadlines to deliver the project on time.)

Ustedes se atenían a las instrucciones de seguridad durante el viaje de aventura. (You were following the safety instructions during the adventure trip.)

Vosotros os ateníais a las recomendaciones del entrenador para mejorar vuestro rendimiento. (You were following the coach’s recommendations to improve your performance.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Atenerse (to abide by) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish) with English Translations:

This post covers Castilian Spanish. For Latin American 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.