The Imperfect Tense of contener is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Ella contenía su ira mientras escuchaba las críticas. (She contained her anger while listening to the criticism.)

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 Contener (to contain) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

To contain or hold: Por ejemplo, el vaso contenía agua fría. (The glass contained cold water.)

To restrain or control: Por ejemplo, no podía contener su ira. (He couldn’t contain his anger.)

To include or comprise (figuratively): Por ejemplo, el libro contenía muchas ideas interesantes. (The book contained many interesting ideas.)

To stop or prevent (colloquial): Por ejemplo, no me pude contener y le grité. (I couldn’t stop myself and yelled at him.)

Examples

Examples of Contener in the Imperfect Tense

Yo contenía mi emoción mientras esperaba los resultados. (I was containing my emotion while waiting for the results.)

Ella contenía su enojo para no discutir con su jefe. (She was containing her anger to avoid arguing with her boss.)

El equipo contenía al oponente durante la primera mitad del partido. (The team was containing the opponent during the first half of the match.)

Los manifestantes contenían su frustración ante la falta de respuesta del gobierno. (The protesters were containing their frustration due to the lack of response from the government.)

Nosotros conteníamos la risa durante la reunión para no ofender a nadie. (We were containing our laughter during the meeting to avoid offending anyone.)

El libro contenía información valiosa sobre la cultura indígena. (The book contained valuable information about indigenous culture.)

Mis padres contenían su preocupación mientras yo viajaba al extranjero. (My parents were containing their worry while I was traveling abroad.)

La empresa contenía los costos para evitar despidos masivos. (The company was containing costs to avoid mass layoffs.)

Tú contenías tu emoción al ver a tu ídolo en persona. (You were containing your emotion when seeing your idol in person.)

Los bomberos contenían el incendio forestal con gran esfuerzo. (The firefighters were containing the forest fire with great effort.)

Ellos contenían su decepción después de perder el juego. (They were containing their disappointment after losing the game.)

La madre contenía su llanto durante el funeral de su hijo. (The mother was containing her tears during her son’s funeral.)

El político contenía su frustración ante las críticas de la oposición. (The politician was containing his frustration in the face of criticism from the opposition.)

Yo contenía mi impaciencia mientras esperaba en la fila interminable. (I was containing my impatience while waiting in the endless line.)

Nosotras conteníamos nuestra emoción al conocer a nuestro autor favorito. (We were containing our excitement when meeting our favorite author.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Contener (to contain) 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.