The Imperfect Tense of Mirar is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Miraba la televisión todos los días. (I used to watch TV every day.)

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

Conjugations

Conjugations of Mirar (to look at) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Describing an ongoing action: For example, Miraba la televisión cuando llegaste. (I was watching TV when you arrived.)

Describing a repeated or habitual action: For example, De niño, miraba mucha televisión. (As a child, I used to watch a lot of TV.)

Expressing an action in progress: For example, Miraba por la ventana mientras llovía. (I was looking out the window while it was raining.)

Describing physical or emotional states: For example, Miraba con envidia a los niños jugando. (I was looking enviously at the children playing.)

Expressing age: For example, Cuando tenía 10 años, miraba mucha televisión. (When I was 10 years old, I used to watch a lot of TV.)

Slang/Idiomatic usage: For example, ¡Mira, viejo! ¡Esa chica está buenísima! (Look, dude! That girl is super hot!) – This usage can be considered rude or inappropriate in some contexts.

Examples

Examples of Mirar in the Imperfect Tense

Yo miraba la televisión mientras esperaba a que llegara mi familia. (I was watching TV while waiting for my family to arrive.)

Ellos miraban con asombro el espectáculo de luces en el parque. (They were watching the light show at the park in awe.)

Nosotros mirábamos por la ventana del avión las nubes pasar. (We were looking out the airplane window watching the clouds go by.)

Tú mirabas fijamente tu teléfono durante toda la cena, ¿qué pasó? (You were staring at your phone the whole dinner, what happened?)

Ella miraba de reojo a su crush cuando él no se daba cuenta. (She was sneaking glances at her crush when he wasn’t paying attention.)

¿Por qué mirabas tanto el reloj? ¿Tenías prisa por irte? (Why were you watching the clock so much? Were you in a hurry to leave?)

Los niños miraban embelesados los fuegos artificiales en el cielo. (The kids were watching the fireworks in the sky in amazement.)

Mamá miraba la novela todas las noches después de la cena. (Mom would watch the soap opera every night after dinner.)

Aunque miraba el partido, no entendía muy bien las reglas. (Even though I was watching the game, I didn’t really understand the rules.)

¿Por qué mirabas tanto a esa persona? ¿Te gusta o qué? (Why were you checking out that person so much? Do you like them or what?)

El profesor miraba con decepción a los estudiantes que no prestaban atención. (The professor was looking at the students who weren’t paying attention with disappointment.)

Mientras mirábamos la puesta de sol, nos dimos cuenta de lo hermoso que es el mundo. (As we were watching the sunset, we realized how beautiful the world is.)

Siempre miraba por la ventana del autobús para ver los paisajes. (I would always look out the bus window to see the scenery.)

Cuando era niño, miraba caricaturas todos los sábados por la mañana. (When I was a kid, I would watch cartoons every Saturday morning.)

Mis amigos y yo mirábamos videos graciosos en YouTube hasta tarde en la noche. (My friends and I would watch funny videos on YouTube until late at night.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Mirar (to look at) 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.