Ir (to go) is irregular in El Pretérito Imperfecto:
| yo | iba |
| tú | ibas |
| él / ella / Ud. | iba |
| nosotros / nosotras |
íbamos |
| vosotros / vosotras |
ibais |
| ellos / ellas / Uds. | iban |
See and listen to these examples:
Yo no iba en tren sino en coche.
I didn't go by train but by car.
Tú ibas de chica en chica de joven.
You used to flit from girl to girl when you were young.
Sofía iba de Madrid a Jaén.
Sofía was going from Madrid to Jaen.
Hace años íbamos a ese camping cada verano.
Years ago we used to go to that campsite every summer.
¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?
Were you going to Ibiza for your honeymoon?
Iban de vacaciones a una isla bonita.
They were going on holidays to a lovely island.
For the conjugation of regular verbs see:
- Conjugate regular -ar verbs in El Pretérito Imperfecto (imperfect)
- Conjugate regular -er and -ir verbs in El Pretérito Imperfecto (imperfect)
Learn more about these related Spanish grammar topics
Examples and resources
¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?
Were you going to Ibiza for your honeymoon?
Tú ibas de chica en chica de joven.
You used to flit from girl to girl when you were young.
Iban de vacaciones a una isla bonita.
They were going on holidays to a lovely island.
Hace años íbamos a ese camping cada verano.
Years ago we used to go to that campsite every summer.
Yo no iba en tren sino en coche.
I didn't go by train but by car.
Sofía iba de Madrid a Jaén.
Sofía was going from Madrid to Jaen.
Emanuel
Kwiziq community member
7 May 2019
1 reply
Would it be ok to use fuisteis in the honeymoon sentence?
Inma
Kwiziq language super star
7 May 2019
7/05/19
Hola EmanuelYes, it would be correct but the meaning would change:
¿Fuisteis a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?Did you go to Ibiza for your honeymoon?
¿Ibais a Ibiza para vuestra luna de miel?
Were you going to Ibiza for your honeymoon?
The preterite is expressing a completed action in the past while the imperfect is expressing an ongoing action "to be doing something in the past", or in this case with verb "ir" it has a specific nuance, as if you were saying "Were you planning to go to Ibiza for your honeymoon?
Saludos
Inma