The imperfect tense of conducir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo conducía al trabajo todos los días. (I used to drive to work every day.)

Conducir is a regular -ir verb, so its imperfect tense conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Conducir (to drive) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Driving or operating a vehicle: For example, Cuando era niño, conducía el tractor de mi abuelo. (When I was a child, I used to drive my grandfather’s tractor.)

Leading or guiding: For example, El guía conducía al grupo por el sendero. (The guide was leading the group along the trail.)

Behaving or acting in a certain way (colloquial): For example, ¡Conducíte bien o te castigaré! (Behave yourself or I’ll punish you!)

Managing or directing (business context): For example, La gerente conducía la reunión con firmeza. (The manager was firmly conducting the meeting.)

Examples

Examples of Conducir in the Imperfect Tense

Yo conducía con cuidado por las calles resbalosas. (I was driving carefully on the slippery streets.)

Cuando era niño, mi padre conducía un camión de reparto. (When he was a child, my father drove a delivery truck.)

Antes de tener el accidente, ella conducía de forma imprudente. (Before having the accident, she was driving recklessly.)

Durante las vacaciones, conducíamos por la costa para disfrutar del paisaje. (During the holidays, we would drive along the coast to enjoy the scenery.)

Mis amigos y yo conducíamos hasta la playa los fines de semana para hacer fiestas. (My friends and I would drive to the beach on weekends to party.)

Aunque no tenía licencia, conducía de vez en cuando. (Even though I didn’t have a license, I would drive from time to time.)

En la universidad, conducíamos un viejo auto destartalado. (In college, we drove an old beat-up car.)

Cuando conducía de noche, tenía mucho cuidado por los animales en la carretera. (When I was driving at night, I was very careful about animals on the road.)

Antes de que existieran los autos, la gente conducía carretas tiradas por caballos. (Before cars existed, people would drive horse-drawn carriages.)

Mi abuela conducía muy despacio porque ya no veía bien. (My grandmother would drive very slowly because she could no longer see well.)

Ellos conducían con las ventanas abajo para disfrutar del aire fresco. (They would drive with the windows down to enjoy the fresh air.)

Cuando conducía de regreso a casa, escuchaba música relajante. (When I was driving back home, I would listen to relaxing music.)

En sus años de juventud, ella conducía un deportivo rojo. (In her youth, she would drive a red sports car.)

A veces conducíamos sin rumbo fijo, solo por placer. (Sometimes we would drive aimlessly, just for the pleasure of it.)

Debido al tráfico, conducía a paso de tortuga por la ciudad. (Due to traffic, I would drive at a snail’s pace through the city.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Conducir (to drive) 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.