The Imperfect Tense of recoger is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example, Yo recogía la basura todos los días. (I used to take out the trash every day.)

Recoger is a regular -er verb, so its conjugations in the Imperfect Tense follow the regular pattern for this verb type.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Recoger (to pick up) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Castilian Spanish):

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

Gathering or collecting: For example, Cuando era niño, recogía flores en el jardín. (When I was a child, I used to gather flowers in the garden.)

Picking up or retrieving: For example, Recogía la correspondencia de la oficina todas las mañanas. (I used to pick up the mail from the office every morning.)

Tidying or cleaning up: For example, Recogía mi habitación antes de salir a jugar. (I used to tidy up my room before going out to play.)

Colloquially, recoger can mean “to leave” or “to go home”: For example, Nos recogíamos temprano los viernes. (We used to leave/go home early on Fridays.)

Examples

Examples of Recoger in the Imperfect Tense

Cuando era niño, recogía flores del jardín para mi madre. (When I was a child, I would pick flowers from the garden for my mother.)

Ellos recogían la basura de la calle todos los días. (They would pick up the trash from the street every day.)

Tú recogías tus juguetes después de jugar, ¿verdad? (You would pick up your toys after playing, right?)

Nosotros recogíamos las manzanas de los árboles en otoño. (We would pick apples from the trees in autumn.)

Ella recogía las monedas que encontraba en la calle. (She would pick up the coins she found on the street.)

Ustedes recogían los platos después de cenar, ¿no? (You all would clear the plates after dinner, right?)

Yo recogía las hojas secas del patio. (I would rake up the dry leaves from the yard.)

¿Vosotros recogíais la ropa sucia los domingos? (Would you all pick up the dirty laundry on Sundays?)

Ellas recogían las latas vacías para reciclar. (They would collect the empty cans for recycling.)

Él recogía las migas de pan del mantel. (He would brush the breadcrumbs off the tablecloth.)

¿Tú recogías tus cosas antes de salir de casa? (Would you pick up your things before leaving the house?)

Vosotros recogíais las pelotas después del partido, ¿no? (You all would pick up the balls after the game, right?)

Nosotros recogíamos los papeles del suelo en la oficina. (We would pick up the papers from the floor in the office.)

Ellos recogían las toallas usadas de la piscina. (They would collect the used towels from the pool.)

Yo recogía las migajas de la mesa después de comer. (I would wipe the crumbs off the table after eating.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Recoger (to pick up) 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.