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 Imperfect conjugations follow the typical pattern for that verb type.

Conjugations

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

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

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

Picking up or retrieving: For example, Recogía la ropa del tendedero todas las tardes. (I used to pick up the clothes from the clothesline every afternoon.)

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

Colloquial usage: In some Latin American countries, recoger can also mean “to pick someone up” or “to take someone somewhere,” as in Te recogía a las 8 para ir al cine. (I used to pick you up at 8 to go to the movies.)

Examples

Examples of Recoger in the Imperfect Tense

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

Ella recogía la ropa sucia de toda la casa los domingos. (She would gather the dirty clothes from all over the house on Sundays.)

En la fiesta, recogíamos los platos y vasos usados después de la medianoche. (At the party, we would collect the used plates and cups after midnight.)

Mis abuelos recogían las frutas y verduras de su huerto. (My grandparents would harvest fruits and vegetables from their garden.)

Antes de irnos de vacaciones, recogíamos todas nuestras pertenencias del hotel. (Before leaving on vacation, we would gather all our belongings from the hotel.)

Cuando llovía, recogía el periódico de la entrada rápidamente. (When it rained, I would quickly pick up the newspaper from the entrance.)

Los voluntarios recogían la basura de las calles todos los sábados. (The volunteers would collect the trash from the streets every Saturday.)

Después de la tormenta, recogíamos las ramas caídas del patio. (After the storm, we would pick up the fallen branches from the yard.)

En la oficina, recogía los documentos importantes antes de irme a casa. (At the office, I would gather the important documents before leaving for home.)

Cuando recogíamos las monedas de la fuente, pedíamos un deseo. (When we would collect coins from the fountain, we would make a wish.)

Mi hermana recogía las pelotas de tenis después de cada partido. (My sister would pick up the tennis balls after each match.)

En la playa, recogíamos conchas y piedras bonitas. (At the beach, we would collect pretty shells and stones.)

Después de la mudanza, recogíamos las cajas vacías para reciclarlas. (After the move, we would gather the empty boxes to recycle them.)

Cuando recogía las migas de pan del mantel, me acordaba de no desperdiciar comida. (When I would pick up the breadcrumbs from the tablecloth, I would remember not to waste food.)

Los arqueólogos recogían cuidadosamente los artefactos antiguos del sitio de excavación. (The archaeologists would carefully collect the ancient artifacts from the excavation site.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Recoger (to pick up) 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.