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 conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the typical pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Cenar (to have dinner) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian 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 teléfono. (I was having dinner when the phone rang.)

Describing a repeated or habitual action in the past: For example, De niño, cenaba a las 8 todos los días. (As a child, I had dinner at 8 every day.)

Describing a past action without a specific beginning or end: For example, Cenábamos en un restaurante muy caro cuando vivíamos en Madrid. (We used to have dinner at a very expensive restaurant when we lived in Madrid.)

Describing a past action that was interrupted or ongoing: For example, Cenaba tranquilamente cuando de repente se fue la luz. (I was having dinner peacefully when suddenly the power went out.)

Describing a past action that was a habit or routine: For example, Mis abuelos cenaban temprano, sobre las 6 de la tarde. (My grandparents used to have dinner early, around 6 in the evening.)

Examples

Examples of Cenar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo cenaba a las 8 de la noche cuando vivía solo. (I used to have dinner at 8 pm when I lived alone.)

Mis padres cenaban temprano cuando éramos niños. (My parents used to have dinner early when we were kids.)

¿Cenabas con tus amigos los viernes por la noche? (Did you use to have dinner with your friends on Friday nights?)

Ellos cenaban en restaurantes caros los fines de semana. (They used to dine at expensive restaurants on weekends.)

Cuando cenábamos juntos, siempre había una buena conversación. (When we used to have dinner together, there was always good conversation.)

Ustedes cenaban muy tarde, ¿no? (You guys used to have dinner very late, didn’t you?)

Vosotros cenabais en casa los domingos, ¿verdad? (You used to have dinner at home on Sundays, right?)

Ella cenaba sola la mayoría de las noches. (She used to have dinner alone most nights.)

¿Qué cenabas cuando eras vegetariano? (What did you used to have for dinner when you were a vegetarian?)

Nosotros cenábamos afuera los viernes por la noche. (We used to have dinner out on Friday nights.)

Tú cenabas muy tarde, ¿no es cierto? (You used to have dinner very late, didn’t you?)

Ellas cenaban juntas los miércoles. (They used to have dinner together on Wednesdays.)

¿Cenabais en familia cuando erais pequeños? (Did you use to have dinner as a family when you were little?)

Él cenaba lo mismo todas las noches. (He used to have the same thing for dinner every night.)

¿Qué cenaban ustedes cuando no tenían mucho dinero? (What did you guys use to have for dinner when you didn’t have much money?)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Cenar (to have dinner) 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.