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Conjugation Chart

“Irse” (to go away) in the Imperfect Tense

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Understanding the Imperfect Tense of “Irse”

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

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

How to Use Irse in the Imperfect Tense

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

To be leaving/going away: For example, Todos los días me iba a la escuela a las 8 de la mañana. (Every day I was leaving/going away to school at 8 in the morning.)

To be in the process of leaving: For example, Cuando llegué, mis amigos ya se iban. (When I arrived, my friends were already leaving.)

To go away gradually: For example, El dolor de cabeza se me iba poco a poco. (The headache was gradually going away for me.)

To disappear/fade away: For example, La luz del día se iba con el atardecer. (The daylight was fading away with the sunset.)

To be leaving (in a rude way): For example, ¡Vete ya de aquí! (Get out of here already!) [rude]

Real Life Examples of Irse in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, me iba a la playa todos los veranos. (When I was a child, I used to go to the beach every summer.)

Mis amigos se iban de fiesta cada fin de semana. (My friends would go out partying every weekend.)

Ella se iba a trabajar temprano por las mañanas. (She would leave for work early in the mornings.)

¿A qué hora te ibas a dormir cuando eras adolescente? (What time would you go to sleep when you were a teenager?)

Mis padres se iban de vacaciones cada verano. (My parents would go on vacation every summer.)

Cuando nos íbamos de la oficina, siempre tomábamos un café juntos. (When we would leave the office, we would always get coffee together.)

En la universidad, me iba a la biblioteca a estudiar todas las noches. (In college, I would go to the library to study every night.)

Ellos se iban de viaje cada vez que podían. (They would go on a trip whenever they could.)

¿Por qué te ibas tan temprano de la fiesta? (Why would you leave the party so early?)

Cuando nos íbamos de compras, siempre terminábamos gastando demasiado. (When we would go shopping, we would always end up spending too much.)

Mis abuelos se iban a caminar todas las mañanas. (My grandparents would go for a walk every morning.)

¿A dónde te ibas cuando necesitabas estar solo? (Where would you go when you needed to be alone?)

Ella se iba a correr al parque todos los días. (She would go running at the park every day.)

Cuando nos íbamos de vacaciones, siempre alquilábamos una casa en la playa. (When we would go on vacation, we would always rent a house at the beach.)

En mi familia, nos íbamos a la iglesia todos los domingos. (In my family, we would go to church every Sunday.)

Conjugation Chart with English Translations

Conjugations of Irse (to go away) in the Imperfect 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.