responder means: to answer, to reply, to answer back
Click to see all conjugation charts of responder in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we will learn how to inflect the verb responder 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 responder conjugation. For a general overview of Simple Tenses conjugation see 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 more detailed information on conjugation in this tense as well as 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 properly locate the desired position on the timeline is an important skill for proper choice of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, writing and reading. After some practice you will 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 Spanish language, where each conjugated form consists of two words.The verb responder has an entirely regular conjugation in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb simply follows the basic rules for its conjugation group (-er) without any exceptions or spelling corrections. This tense is really easy, because there are only three irregular verbs! 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 really easy to do. Just remove two letters from the end of the infinitive and you have the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So in case of our verb:

• the stem is: respond-
• and the ending is: -er

Use the stem respond- in each person as the basis for conjugation, the common prefix or root 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 both the colors and shapes of the letters. They are arranged to help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.

Also notice that in verb groups -er and -ir all the endings in both Pretéterito Imperfecto and Condicional tenses are the same. Good tip to remember. The only difference is that the Condicional uses the entire infinitive as the stem.Each grammatical person has a specific ending in each of the three conjugation groups -ar, -er, -ir. Add the regular ending -ía for the first person singular to create respondía:

• yo respondía – I answered

And add the regular ending -ías for the second person singular to create respondías:

• tú respondías – you answered

And similarly add the regular ending -ía for the third person singular to create respondía:

• él respondía – he answered
• ella respondía – she answered
• usted respondía – (formal) you answered

Again add the regular ending -íamos for the first person plural to create respondíamos:

• nosotros respondíamos – we answered
• nosotras respondíamos – (feminine) we answered

As before add the regular ending -íais for the second person plural to create respondíais:

• vosotros respondíais – (plural) you answered
• vosotras respondíais – (feminine, plural) you answered

Similarly add the regular ending -ían for the third person plural to create respondían:

• ellos respondían – they answered
• ellas respondían – (feminine) they answered
• ustedes respondían – (formal, plural) you answered

¡Ya está! The conjugation is now complete. The final result looks as follows:

yo	respondía	I answered
tú	respondías	you answered
él/ella/usted	respondía	he/she/it answered
nosotros/nosotras	respondíamos	we answered
vosotros/vosotras	respondíais	you answered
ellos/ellas/ustedes	respondían	they answered

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

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: 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 responder visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for responder visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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