hablar means: to speak, to talk, to discuss, to converse, to call
Click to see all conjugation charts of hablar in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we will learn how to conjugate the verb hablar in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to create and translate forms of each grammatical person.

This lesson is specifically about the hablar conjugation. For an overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

You may also see this Video Presentation on how to conjugate verbs in Imperfecto. It’s embedded below, but using the above link you may see additional information on conjugation in this tense as well as explanation of special cases and exceptions.

How to translate Imperfecto to English

Notice that the phrases in English provided below next to each conjugation are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:

• In Spanish conjugation, there is the form usted in the third person singular. But this person does not translate to the English third person singular. It translates to the so called formal you and uses the inflected form which is most often represented as he/she/it in English conjugation charts.
• Similar situation happens in the third person plural, where ustedes translates to the English plural formal you but uses the form which corresponds to the they form in English.
• Tenses are used differently in Spanish and English, so the actual translation should always take into account the context and focus on translating the meaning, not just words.
• In both languages each verb may have multiple meanings and not every meaning translates directly to the other language. Here also, the context and focusing on the particular meaning helps to create the most accurate translation.

Note the timeline

The ability to accurately locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for proper use of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, writing and reading. After a bit practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Imperfecto belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of the conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each conjugated verb form consists of two words.The verb hablar has regular conjugation in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means that this verb simply follows the general rules for its group (-ar) without any exceptions. This tense is really easy, because there are only three exceptions! The basis for the conjugation in this tense is the stem of the verb, so we need to begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s very easy to do. Just remove two letters from the end of the infinitive to get the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

• the stem is: habl-
• and the ending is: -ar

Use the stem habl- in each person as the basis for the conjugations, the common prefix that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. Analyze the image showing all six endings. Notice the shapes and colors of the letters. It will help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -aba for the first person singular to create hablaba:

• yo hablaba – I spoke

Again add the regular ending -abas for the second person singular to create hablabas:

• tú hablabas – you spoke

And one more time add the regular ending -aba for the third person singular to create hablaba:

• él hablaba – he spoke
• ella hablaba – she spoke
• usted hablaba – (formal) you spoke

And once more add the regular ending -ábamos for the first person plural to create hablábamos. Note difference in spelling

Only the first person plural has an accent here.

This difference exists only in case of the verbs from the -ar group. Other groups always have an accented i in the ending in this tense.So add the accent to get hablábamos:

• nosotros hablábamos – we spoke
• nosotras hablábamos – (feminine) we spoke

And once more add the regular ending -abais for the second person plural to create hablabais:

• vosotros hablabais – (plural) you spoke
• vosotras hablabais – (feminine, plural) you spoke

And similarly add the regular ending -aban for the third person plural to create hablaban:

• ellos hablaban – they spoke
• ellas hablaban – (feminine) they spoke
• ustedes hablaban – (formal, plural) you spoke

Hurray! The conjugation is now done. The final result looks as follows:

yo	hablaba	I spoke
tú	hablabas	you spoke
él/ella/usted	hablaba	he/she/it spoke
nosotros/nosotras	hablábamos	we spoke
vosotros/vosotras	hablabais	you spoke
ellos/ellas/ustedes	hablaban	they spoke

Click to see all conjugation charts of hablar in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it is very important to repeat and practice the material in order to retain it. Check below for some links.

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test your knowledge check this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: PresentePretéritoCondicionalFuturoPretérito Perfecto CompuestoPretérito PluscuamperfectoFuturo PerfectoCondicional PerfectoPretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to hablar visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for hablar visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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