The Imperfect Tense of comprender is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo comprendía las lecciones con facilidad. (I used to understand the lessons easily.)

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

Conjugations

Conjugations of Comprender (to understand) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The imperfect tense of comprender is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, as well as descriptions and states of being.

To understand or comprehend: For example, Cuando era niño, no comprendía las matemáticas. (When I was a child, I didn’t understand math.)

To grasp or perceive: For example, Mi abuela comprendía los problemas de la gente. (My grandmother understood people’s problems.)

To include or contain: For example, El paquete comprendía varios regalos. (The package included several gifts.)

To realize or become aware of: For example, De repente, comprendí que me había equivocado. (Suddenly, I realized that I had made a mistake.)

Colloquially, to get or understand (slang): For example, ¿Comprendes lo que te digo? (Do you get what I’m saying?)

Examples

Examples of Comprender in the Imperfect Tense

Yo comprendía las instrucciones del profesor. (I understood the teacher’s instructions.)

Ellos comprendían la importancia de ahorrar dinero. (They understood the importance of saving money.)

Tú comprendías el chiste, pero yo no. (You understood the joke, but I didn’t.)

Nosotros comprendíamos el concepto, pero no sabíamos cómo aplicarlo. (We understood the concept, but we didn’t know how to apply it.)

Vosotros comprendíais la importancia de la puntualidad. (You all understood the importance of punctuality.)

Ella comprendía el idioma, pero no lo hablaba con fluidez. (She understood the language, but she didn’t speak it fluently.)

Ustedes comprendían las reglas del juego, ¿verdad? (You all understood the rules of the game, right?)

Yo comprendía la broma, pero no me parecía graciosa. (I understood the joke, but I didn’t find it funny.)

Ellas comprendían la situación y trataban de ayudar. (They understood the situation and tried to help.)

Tú comprendías el concepto, pero no sabías cómo explicarlo. (You understood the concept, but you didn’t know how to explain it.)

Nosotros comprendíamos la importancia de la educación. (We understood the importance of education.)

Vosotros comprendíais el mensaje, pero no estabais de acuerdo. (You all understood the message, but you didn’t agree.)

Él comprendía el chiste, pero no se reía. (He understood the joke, but he didn’t laugh.)

Ustedes comprendían la gravedad de la situación. (You all understood the gravity of the situation.)

Yo comprendía el concepto, pero no sabía cómo aplicarlo en la práctica. (I understood the concept, but I didn’t know how to apply it in practice.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Comprender (to understand) 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.