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 a set pattern in certain tenses like the Imperfect.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Irse (to go away) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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, Yo me iba a la escuela a las 7 de la mañana. (I used to leave for school at 7 in the morning.)

To be in the process of leaving: For example, Mis amigos se iban cuando llegué a la fiesta. (My friends were leaving when I arrived at the party.)

To be going away gradually: For example, La luz del día se iba poco a poco. (The daylight was gradually fading away.)

To disappear or vanish: For example, El dinero se me iba en tonterías. (My money used to disappear on silly things.)

To be leaving or abandoning (colloquial): For example, Ya me iba de esa relación tóxica. (I was already leaving/abandoning that toxic relationship.)

To be dying or fading away (idiomatic): For example, Con esa enfermedad, se iba poco a poco. (With that illness, he was slowly dying/fading away.)

Examples

Examples of Irse in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, me iba a la escuela caminando todos los días. (When I was a child, I would walk to school every day.)

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

Ella se iba a la cama temprano porque tenía que levantarse muy temprano. (She would go to bed early because she had to get up very early.)

En esa época, nos íbamos de vacaciones a la playa cada verano. (Back then, we would go on vacation to the beach every summer.)

Cuando se iba la luz, encendíamos velas. (When the power would go out, we would light candles.)

Mi hermano mayor se iba de pinta con sus amigos los fines de semana. (My older brother would go out drinking with his friends on the weekends.)

Antes de que existieran los celulares, me iba a la cabina telefónica para hacer llamadas. (Before cell phones existed, I would go to the phone booth to make calls.)

Cuando se iba el internet, no podíamos trabajar. (When the internet would go out, we couldn’t work.)

En los veranos calurosos, nos íbamos al río a refrescarnos. (On hot summers, we would go to the river to cool off.)

Mis padres se iban de viaje cada año para celebrar su aniversario. (My parents would go on a trip every year to celebrate their anniversary.)

Cuando se iba la señal de televisión, jugábamos juegos de mesa. (When the TV signal would go out, we would play board games.)

En su juventud, mi abuela se iba de baile cada fin de semana. (In her youth, my grandmother would go dancing every weekend.)

Antes de tener hijos, nos íbamos de vacaciones al extranjero con frecuencia. (Before having kids, we would go on international vacations frequently.)

Cuando se iba la calefacción en invierno, usábamos cobertores extras. (When the heating would go out in winter, we would use extra blankets.)

En su época de estudiante, mi tío se iba de parranda con sus amigos después de los exámenes. (During his student days, my uncle would go out partying with his friends after exams.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Irse (to go away) 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.