salvar means: to save
Click to see all conjugation charts of salvar in every tense

In this Spanish conjugation lesson we will learn how to conjugate the verb salvar 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 salvar conjugation. For an overview of Simple Tenses conjugation have a look at our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.

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

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 use of tenses. So pay attention to the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while listening, speaking, writing and reading. 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 the 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 salvar has an entirely regular conjugation in the Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb follows the basic rules for its group (-ar) without any exceptions, spelling corrections and the like. This tense is really easy, as only three exceptions exist! 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 and you have the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem. So for our verb:

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

Use the stem salv- 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. See the image on the side showing all the six endings. Notice the shapes and colors of the letters. It should 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 salvaba:

• yo salvaba – I saved

Like previously add the regular ending -abas for the second person singular to create salvabas:

• tú salvabas – you saved

One more time add the regular ending -aba for the third person singular to create salvaba:

• él salvaba – he saved
• ella salvaba – she saved
• usted salvaba – (formal) you saved

Again add the regular ending -ábamos for the first person plural to create salvábamos. 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 salvábamos:

• nosotros salvábamos – we saved
• nosotras salvábamos – (feminine) we saved

Like previously add the regular ending -abais for the second person plural to create salvabais:

• vosotros salvabais – (plural) you saved
• vosotras salvabais – (feminine, plural) you saved

Similarly add the regular ending -aban for the third person plural to create salvaban:

• ellos salvaban – they saved
• ellas salvaban – (feminine) they saved
• ustedes salvaban – (formal, plural) you saved

Hurray! The conjugation is now finished. Put together, the conjugation chart looks like this:

yo	salvaba	I saved
tú	salvabas	you saved
él/ella/usted	salvaba	he/she/it saved
nosotros/nosotras	salvábamos	we saved
vosotros/vosotras	salvabais	you saved
ellos/ellas/ustedes	salvaban	they saved

Click to see all conjugation charts of salvar in every tense
But do not end your session yet – it’s 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 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 salvar visit our Exercise section To see conjugation charts in all tenses for salvar visit the Conjugator To explore other learning materials visit the Study section

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