The Imperfect Tense of Ver is used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past, for example: Yo veía la televisión todas las noches. (I used to watch TV every night.)

Ver is an irregular verb, meaning its conjugations don’t follow the typical patterns of regular verbs.

Conjugations

Conjugations of Ver (to see) in the Imperfect Tense tense (Latin American Spanish):

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

Seeing or watching something in progress: For example, Veía la televisión cuando llegaste. (I was watching TV when you arrived.)

Describing states or situations in the past: For example, Veía que estabas cansado. (I could see that you were tired.)

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

Expressing age: For example, Cuando me fui, veía 25 años. (When I left, I was 25 years old.)

Expressing perception or opinion: For example, Veía que era una buena idea. (I thought it was a good idea.)

Slang/Idiomatic usage: ¿Viste esa película? (Did you see that movie? – Asking if someone watched something.) ¡Vete a la mierda! (Go to hell! – Rude way of telling someone to leave.)

Examples

Examples of Ver in the Imperfect Tense

Yo veía la televisión mientras esperaba a mi amigo. (I was watching TV while waiting for my friend.)

Ellos veían una película de terror anoche. (They were watching a horror movie last night.)

Nosotros veíamos el partido de fútbol cada domingo. (We used to watch the soccer game every Sunday.)

Tú veías las noticias todas las mañanas, ¿verdad? (You used to watch the news every morning, right?)

Ella veía las estrellas desde su ventana. (She would see the stars from her window.)

¿Veías esa serie cómica? Era muy divertida. (Did you use to watch that comedy show? It was really funny.)

Mis abuelos veían el atardecer juntos en el parque. (My grandparents would watch the sunset together at the park.)

Cuando era niño, veía caricaturas todos los sábados. (When I was a kid, I would watch cartoons every Saturday.)

¿Veías esas luces extrañas en el cielo anoche? (Did you see those strange lights in the sky last night?)

Ellas veían las noticias locales para estar informadas. (They would watch the local news to stay informed.)

Nosotros veíamos el amanecer desde la playa. (We used to watch the sunrise from the beach.)

Tú veías esa telenovela todas las noches, ¿no? (You would watch that soap opera every night, right?)

Él veía las nubes pasar mientras caminaba. (He would watch the clouds pass by as he walked.)

¿Veían ustedes ese programa de cocina? Tenía recetas deliciosas. (Did you guys watch that cooking show? It had delicious recipes.)

Cuando éramos jóvenes, veíamos el amanecer después de una noche de fiesta. (When we were young, we would watch the sunrise after a night of partying.)

Conjugations with English Translations

Conjugations of Ver (to see) 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.