imperfect
1
6.9
- noun
- /ɪmˈpɜr.fɪkt/
- Specialized
:
pretérito imperfecto
- The use of the imperfect creates the impression of a past characterized by a sense of repetition and continuity, a sense of the everydayness and naturalness of contemporary events.
The Ain is actually a a past tense and imperfect what the the the being that it it it is or was.
- The Ain is actually a a past tense and imperfect what the the the being that it it it is or was.
Examples
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For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child.
Blog text (3) -
And in addition, says Kant, we have perfect duties, things that we need always to do, and imperfect duties, things that we need sometimes to do.
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Observe the following examples of vea imperfects in (5), which occur in texts from roughly the same periods as those that contain the va imperfect shown above in (4): PREFORMATTED TABLE
Academic text (2001) -
She had never possessed an ear, a natural musical gift like her father's, but her grammar was absolutely correct down to the last suffix; her subjunctives and imperfects were always cultivated to perfection.
Fiction book (1995) -
In Spanish, the imperfect tense is used to talk about ongoing actions in the past.
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The teacher explained that the imperfect reveals habitual actions in previous years.
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When narrating a story, using the imperfect helps convey the background events effectively.
Synonyms
To talk about past actions that happened often or were still happening
Compounds
- Specialized
To talk about past actions that happened often or were still happening
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Imperfect (the grammar term) also comes from im- 'not' and perfect 'completed', so it names a past action that was 'not finished' or that lasted over time. That's why the imperfect tense talks about ongoing or repeated actions in the past rather than one finished event.