The Imperfect Tense of pintarse is used to describe an ongoing or repeated action in the past, for example, Me pintaba las uñas todos los fines de semana. (I used to paint my nails every weekend.)

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

Conjugations

Conjugations of Pintarse (to put on makeup) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

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

To paint oneself: For example, Cuando era niño, me pintaba la cara en Halloween. (When I was a child, I used to paint my face on Halloween.)

To dye one’s hair: For example, Mi abuela se pintaba el pelo de rubio. (My grandmother used to dye her hair blonde.)

To put on makeup: For example, Antes de salir, ella se pintaba las uñas. (Before going out, she used to paint her nails.)

To get sunburned (colloquial): For example, En la playa, me pintaba como un cangrejo. (At the beach, I used to get sunburned like a lobster.)

To get drunk (slang): For example, Los fines de semana, se pintaba hasta perder el conocimiento. (On weekends, he used to get drunk until he passed out.)

Examples

Examples of Pintarse in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, me pintaba la cara con los colores del arco iris. (When I was a child, I used to paint my face with the colors of the rainbow.)

Mi hermana se pintaba las uñas de un color diferente cada semana. (My sister used to paint her nails a different color every week.)

Los artistas callejeros se pintaban el cuerpo para sus actuaciones. (The street artists used to paint their bodies for their performances.)

En la fiesta de disfraces, todos se pintaban la cara como sus personajes favoritos. (At the costume party, everyone used to paint their faces like their favorite characters.)

Antes de los partidos, los fanáticos se pintaban la cara con los colores del equipo. (Before the games, the fans used to paint their faces with the team’s colors.)

Durante el festival cultural, los niños se pintaban diseños tradicionales en las manos. (During the cultural festival, the children used to paint traditional designs on their hands.)

En la clase de arte, nos pintábamos unos a otros como práctica. (In art class, we used to paint each other for practice.)

Mis amigas y yo nos pintábamos el cabello de colores brillantes en la universidad. (My friends and I used to dye our hair bright colors in college.)

Los indígenas se pintaban la piel con diseños simbólicos para las ceremonias. (The indigenous people used to paint symbolic designs on their skin for ceremonies.)

En el carnaval, la gente se pintaba la cara de manera extravagante. (At the carnival, people used to paint their faces in an extravagant way.)

Cuando me pintaba las paredes, siempre terminaba con pintura en la ropa. (When I used to paint the walls, I always ended up with paint on my clothes.)

Los grafiteros se pintaban las manos para no dejar huellas en sus obras. (The graffiti artists used to paint their hands to avoid leaving fingerprints on their works.)

En la escuela primaria, nos pintábamos con acuarelas durante la clase de arte. (In elementary school, we used to paint with watercolors during art class.)

Antes de las batallas, los guerreros se pintaban la cara para intimidar a sus enemigos. (Before battles, the warriors used to paint their faces to intimidate their enemies.)

Mi abuela se pintaba el cabello de un tono más oscuro cuando era joven. (My grandmother used to dye her hair a darker shade when she was young.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Pintarse (to put on makeup) 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.