The Imperfect Tense of Eliminar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Yo eliminaba los archivos viejos cada semana. (I used to delete the old files every week.)

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

Conjugations

Conjugations of Eliminar (to eliminate) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Removing or getting rid of something: For example, Eliminaba la basura todos los días. (I used to take out the trash every day.) This can also be used figuratively, like Eliminaba mis preocupaciones con un buen libro. (I would get rid of my worries with a good book.)

Deleting or erasing: For example, Siempre eliminaba los mensajes después de leerlos. (I would always delete the messages after reading them.) In a computing context: Eliminaba los archivos temporales para liberar espacio. (I would delete the temporary files to free up space.)

Removing or excluding: For example, El juez eliminaba a los candidatos que no cumplían los requisitos. (The judge would eliminate candidates who didn’t meet the requirements.) Or in a process: Primero eliminábamos las impurezas antes de refinar el producto. (First, we would eliminate the impurities before refining the product.)

Slang/Idiomatic: Eliminar a alguien can mean to kill or get rid of someone, often in a violent context. For example, Los narcos eliminaban a los que les traicionaban. (The drug traffickers would eliminate those who betrayed them.)

Examples

Examples of Eliminar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo eliminaba los correos electrónicos no deseados de mi bandeja de entrada. (I was deleting the unwanted emails from my inbox.)

Ella eliminaba las aplicaciones que ya no usaba para liberar espacio en su teléfono. (She was deleting the apps she no longer used to free up space on her phone.)

Nosotros eliminábamos los archivos temporales del sistema para mejorar su rendimiento. (We were deleting the system’s temporary files to improve its performance.)

Tú eliminabas las fotos viejas de tu cámara para hacer espacio para nuevas. (You were deleting old photos from your camera to make room for new ones.)

Ellos eliminaban los mensajes de texto antiguos para mantener su privacidad. (They were deleting old text messages to maintain their privacy.)

¿Eliminabas los contactos que ya no necesitabas en tu agenda? (Were you deleting the contacts you no longer needed from your address book?)

Mi amigo eliminaba las publicaciones ofensivas de las redes sociales. (My friend was deleting offensive posts from social media.)

La empresa eliminaba los registros de empleados que ya no trabajaban allí. (The company was deleting the records of employees who no longer worked there.)

Yo eliminaba las contraseñas guardadas en mi navegador por razones de seguridad. (I was deleting the saved passwords in my browser for security reasons.)

Tú eliminabas los mensajes de voz antiguos para liberar espacio en tu teléfono. (You were deleting old voicemail messages to free up space on your phone.)

Ellas eliminaban las cookies del navegador para mantener su privacidad en línea. (They were deleting browser cookies to maintain their online privacy.)

¿Eliminabas los archivos duplicados de tu computadora para ahorrar espacio en el disco duro? (Were you deleting duplicate files from your computer to save space on the hard drive?)

El administrador eliminaba los comentarios inapropiados del foro en línea. (The administrator was deleting inappropriate comments from the online forum.)

Nosotros eliminábamos las entradas antiguas del blog para mantenerlo actualizado. (We were deleting old blog entries to keep it up-to-date.)

Tú eliminabas los mensajes de chat antiguos para mantener tu privacidad. (You were deleting old chat messages to maintain your privacy.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Eliminar (to eliminate) 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.