In this lesson we will see how to conjugate the verb sobrevivir in the Pretérito Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means we will see step by step how to get the following conjugation:
yo
sobrevivía
I came through
tú
sobrevivías
you came through
él/ella/usted
sobrevivía
he/she/it came through
nosotros/nosotras
sobrevivíamos
we came through
vosotros/vosotras
sobrevivíais
you came through
ellos/ellas/ustedes
sobrevivían
they came through
This lesson is specifically about the sobrevivir verb conjugation. For an overview of all the Simple Tenses conjugation check our Simple Tenses Conjugation Chart.
Notice that the phrases in English in the third column of the above conjugation chart are not direct translations from Spanish to English. They are usually the closest general equivalents. The example differences are:
In Spanish, 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 intended position on the timeline is a crucial skill for the right use of tenses. So note the timeline in our lessons and visualize it while speaking, listening, writing and reading. After some practice you will be capable of selecting the right tense to use much easier.
Step by step instructions
Pretérito Imperfecto belongs to the simple tenses group, which means that all of its conjugated forms are one word long. There are also compound (compuesto) tenses in Spanish language, where each inflected form consists of two words.
The verb sobrevivir has regular conjugation in the Pretérito Imperfecto tense of the Indicativo mood. It means this verb simply follows the general rules for its conjugation group (-ir) without any exceptions or spelling corrections. 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 begin by splitting the infinitive into a stem and an ending. It’s very easy to do. Simply remove two letters from the end of the infinitive form and you have the ending — one of -ar, -er or -ir. What’s left is the stem.
So for our verb:
the stem is: sobreviv-
and the ending is: -ir
Use the stemsobreviv- 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 endingsspecific to each person. Analyze the image showing all six endings. Notice the colors and shapes of the letters. It will help you find patterns and make it easier to remember these endings.
Also notice that in verb groups -er and -ir all six endings in both Pretéterito Imperfecto and Condicional tenses are identical. 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 sobrevivía:
yo sobrevivía
Again add the regular ending-ías for the second person singular to create sobrevivías:
tú sobrevivías
Again add the regular ending-ía for the third person singular to create sobrevivía:
él sobrevivía
ella sobrevivía
usted sobrevivía
And once more add the regular ending-íamos for the first person plural to create sobrevivíamos:
nosotros sobrevivíamos
nosotras sobrevivíamos
Again add the regular ending-íais for the second person plural to create sobrevivíais:
vosotros sobrevivíais
vosotras sobrevivíais
As before add the regular ending-ían for the third person plural to create sobrevivían:
ellos sobrevivían
ellas sobrevivían
ustedes sobrevivían
Hurray! The conjugation is now done. But don’t end your session yet – it’s important to repeat and practice the material in order to retain it. Check below for some links.
We strive to provide you with the highest quality content. Please contact us if you have any suggestions or concerns regarding this site.
STUDY
Explore eye-catching videos & presentations, tense charts, step by step guides explaining the Spanish conjugation rules for individual verbs in high detail, and many other study materials. All carefully crafted to involve multiple intelligence types and significantly speed up inevitable progress.
EXERCISE
Our powerful exercising engine offers a variety of interactive activities designed to make the learning process highly enjoyable.
Using flexible configuration options, you can choose the area of focus that's most important in your unique case.
CONJUGATE
Our Spanish conjugation charts are the learning devices as well. All exceptions and special cases are distinguished with colors and explained in pop-up hints.
You can discover rules and logic thanks to which there's much less left to learn by heart. It means learning faster.