The Imperfect Tense of cobrar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo cobraba mi sueldo cada mes. (I used to collect my salary every month.)

Cobrar is a regular -ar verb, so its Imperfect Tense conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Cobrar (to charge, collect) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Receiving payment: For example, Yo cobraba mi sueldo cada quincena. (I used to receive my salary every two weeks.)

Collecting money: For example, Mi tío cobraba las rentas de los inquilinos. (My uncle used to collect rent from the tenants.)

Charging a fee: For example, El mecánico cobraba caro por sus servicios. (The mechanic used to charge a lot for his services.)

Slang: Hitting or punching: For example, Siempre que me veía, me cobraba un golpe en el brazo. (Whenever he saw me, he would punch me in the arm.)

Examples

Examples of Cobrar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo cobraba mi sueldo cada quincena. (I used to get paid every two weeks.)

Cuando era niño, mi abuela cobraba la pensión de mi abuelo. (When I was a child, my grandmother used to collect my grandfather’s pension.)

El año pasado, cobrábamos una tarifa adicional por el servicio de entrega. (Last year, we used to charge an additional fee for delivery service.)

Antes, la compañía cobraba por las llamadas de larga distancia. (Before, the company used to charge for long-distance calls.)

Ellos cobraban la renta con retraso todos los meses. (They used to pay the rent late every month.)

Cuando vivía en la ciudad, cobraba por estacionar mi auto. (When I lived in the city, I used to have to pay to park my car.)

Mi primo cobraba una cuota por cuidar a los niños del vecindario. (My cousin used to charge a fee for babysitting the neighborhood kids.)

En esa época, cobrábamos el doble por los servicios de emergencia. (Back then, we used to charge double for emergency services.)

La empresa cobraba una tarifa plana por el servicio de internet. (The company used to charge a flat rate for internet service.)

Nosotros cobrábamos la propina automáticamente en la cuenta. (We used to automatically include the tip on the bill.)

Tú cobrabas un recargo por los envíos express. (You used to charge an extra fee for express shipping.)

Ellas cobraban por adelantado por sus servicios. (They used to charge upfront for their services.)

En ese entonces, cobraba una tarifa de membresía anual. (Back then, I used to charge an annual membership fee.)

Ustedes cobraban un depósito reembolsable por los equipos rentados. (You used to charge a refundable deposit for rented equipment.)

Él cobraba por separado por los materiales adicionales. (He used to charge separately for additional materials.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Cobrar (to charge, collect) 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.