llevar means: to carry, to take, to wear
Click to see all conjugation charts of llevar in every tense

In this conjugation lesson we will see how to conjugate the verb llevar 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 llevar verb conjugation. For a general overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at the 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 get additional information on conjugation in this tense and explanation of exceptions and special cases.

How to translate Imperfecto to English

Note that the English phrases 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 correctly locate the intended position on the timeline is an important skill for proper use of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, reading or writing. After a bit practice you’ll be able to select the right tense to use much easier.

Step by step instructions

Imperfecto belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of its inflected forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in the Spanish language, where each conjugated verb form consists of two words.The verb llevar has a completely regular conjugation in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means that this verb 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 this conjugation is the stem of the verb, so we start 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 form 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: llev-
• and the ending is: -ar

Use the stem llev- in each subject as the basis for conjugations, the common prefix or root that each of the forms begins with. Next, add to this regular stem the endings specific to each person. See the image on the side showing all the six endings. Note both 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 llevaba:

• yo llevaba – I carried

And similarly add the regular ending -abas for the second person singular to create llevabas:

• tú llevabas – you carried

Once more add the regular ending -aba for the third person singular to create llevaba:

• él llevaba – he carried
• ella llevaba – she carried
• usted llevaba – (formal) you carried

And exactly as previously add the regular ending -ábamos for the first person plural to create llevábamos. 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 llevábamos:

• nosotros llevábamos – we carried
• nosotras llevábamos – (feminine) we carried

And add the regular ending -abais for the second person plural to create llevabais:

• vosotros llevabais – (plural) you carried
• vosotras llevabais – (feminine, plural) you carried

And one more time add the regular ending -aban for the third person plural to create llevaban:

• ellos llevaban – they carried
• ellas llevaban – (feminine) they carried
• ustedes llevaban – (formal, plural) you carried

¡Ya está! The conjugation is now complete. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	llevaba	I carried
tú	llevabas	you carried
él/ella/usted	llevaba	he/she/it carried
nosotros/nosotras	llevábamos	we carried
vosotros/vosotras	llevabais	you carried
ellos/ellas/ustedes	llevaban	they carried

Click to see all conjugation charts of llevar 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 and some links.

Example sentences

Next Steps to Perfection To practice this conjugation and test yourself try this Conjugation Exercise or the Memory Game To see other conjugation lessons for this verb choose another tense: Presente (indicativo)Pretérito (indicativo)Condicional (indicativo)Futuro (indicativo)Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto (indicativo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto (indicativo)Futuro Perfecto (indicativo)Condicional Perfecto (indicativo)Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto A (subjuntivo)Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto B (subjuntivo)Futuro Perfecto (subjuntivo)  For exercises and examples related to llevar visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for llevar visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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