alentar Imperfect Conjugation
alentar — to encourage
The imperfect of alentar is regular: alentaba, alentabas, alentaba, alentábamos, alentabais, alentaban.
alentar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a past habit of being supportive or to set the scene of people cheering in the background.
Notes on alentar in the Imperfect
Alentar is regular in the imperfect. It uses the standard -aba endings for -ar verbs.
Example Sentences
Mi abuelo siempre me alentaba a seguir mis sueños.
My grandfather always used to encourage me to follow my dreams.
él/ella/usted
Mientras ellos corrían, nosotros los alentábamos.
While they were running, we were cheering them on.
nosotros
Los fans alentaban sin parar durante el concierto.
The fans were cheering non-stop during the concert.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the nosotros form: alentabamos.
Correct: alentábamos
Why: All -ar imperfect nosotros forms require an accent on the first 'a' of the ending.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'alentar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: aliento
Alentar is a stem-changing verb where 'e' becomes 'ie' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: alenté
Alentar is completely regular in the preterite; it does NOT have a stem change here.
Future
yo: alentaré
The future tense is regular: alentaré, alentarás, alentará, alentaremos, alentaréis, alentarán.
Conditional
yo: alentaría
The conditional of alentar is regular: alentaría, alentarías, alentaría, alentaríamos, alentaríais, alentarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: aliente
The present subjunctive of alentar features the e > ie stem change: aliente, alientes, aliente, alentemos, alentéis, alienten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: alentara
The imperfect subjunctive of alentar is regular: alentara, alentaras, alentara, alentáramos, alentarais, alentaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: alienta
The imperative uses 'alienta' (tú) and 'aliente' (usted/ustedes), maintaining the stem change.
Negative Imperative
yo: no alientes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no alientes, no aliente, no alentemos, no alentéis, no alienten.