The Imperfect Tense of ir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Iba a la escuela todos los días. (I used to go to school every day.)

Ir is an irregular verb, meaning its conjugations do not follow the typical patterns of regular verbs.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Ir (to go) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

The imperfect tense of ir is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, as well as to set the scene or describe characteristics.

Ongoing action in the past: For example, Iba al parque todos los días después del trabajo. (I used to go to the park every day after work.)

Repeated action in the past: For example, Cuando era niño, iba a la playa con mis padres cada verano. (When I was a child, I went to the beach with my parents every summer.)

Setting the scene: For example, Hacía mucho calor e íbamos a la piscina para refrescarnos. (It was very hot, and we went to the pool to cool off.)

Describing characteristics: For example, Mi hermano iba siempre con prisa. (My brother was always in a hurry.)

Expressing age: For example, Cuando tenía diez años, iba a la escuela primaria. (When I was ten years old, I went to elementary school.)

Expressing future plans (in the past): For example, Iba a estudiar medicina, pero cambié de opinión. (I was going to study medicine, but I changed my mind.)

Expressing uncertainty or doubt (colloquial): For example, No sé, iba a decir que no, pero… (I don’t know, I was going to say no, but…)

Examples

Examples of Ir in the Imperfect Tense

Yo iba al parque todos los días para hacer ejercicio. (I used to go to the park every day to exercise.)

Ellos venían a nuestra casa los fines de semana. (They would come to our house on weekends.)

¿Ibas al cine con tus amigos? (Would you go to the movies with your friends?)

Nosotros íbamos de vacaciones cada verano. (We used to go on vacation every summer.)

Tú venías tarde al trabajo con frecuencia. (You would often come late to work.)

Mis padres iban a la iglesia todos los domingos. (My parents would go to church every Sunday.)

¿Ibais a la playa cuando erais niños? (Would you go to the beach when you were kids?)

Ellas venían a mi casa para estudiar juntas. (They would come to my house to study together.)

Yo iba al gimnasio tres veces por semana. (I used to go to the gym three times a week.)

Ustedes iban al mismo restaurante cada viernes. (You used to go to the same restaurant every Friday.)

¿Ibas a la escuela en autobús o caminando? (Would you go to school by bus or walking?)

Nosotros íbamos al centro comercial los fines de semana. (We used to go to the mall on weekends.)

Tú venías a mi casa a jugar videojuegos. (You would come to my house to play video games.)

Ellos iban al parque a caminar por las tardes. (They used to go to the park to walk in the afternoons.)

¿Ibais de camping cuando erais jóvenes? (Would you go camping when you were young?)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Ir (to go) 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.