arruinar Imperfect Conjugation
arruinar — to ruin
In the imperfect, arruinar uses the regular -aba endings: arruinaba, arruinabas, arruinaba, arruinábamos, arruinabais, arruinaban.
arruinar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe an ongoing process of something being ruined or a habit that used to ruin things repeatedly in the past.
Notes on arruinar in the Imperfect
Arruinar is regular in the imperfect. Note the accent on the 'á' in the nosotros form.
Example Sentences
El humo arruinaba la vista de la montaña.
The smoke was ruining the view of the mountain.
él/ella/usted
De niño, yo siempre arruinaba mis juguetes.
As a child, I always used to ruin my toys.
yo
Ellos arruinaban todas las fiestas con sus peleas.
They used to ruin every party with their fights.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: arruinabamos
Correct: arruinábamos
Why: The 'nosotros' form of -ar verbs in the imperfect always requires an accent on the 'á'.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'arruinar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: arruino
Arruinar is regular in the present tense: arruino, arruinas, arruina, arruinamos, arruináis, arruinan.
Preterite
yo: arruiné
The preterite of arruinar is regular: arruiné, arruinaste, arruinó, arruinamos, arruinasteis, arruinaron.
Future
yo: arruinaré
The future of arruinar is formed by adding -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: arruinaría
The conditional of arruinar is regular: add -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían to the infinitive.
Present Subjunctive
yo: arruine
The present subjunctive of arruinar uses -e endings: arruine, arruines, arruine, arruinemos, arruinéis, arruinen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: arruinara
The imperfect subjunctive of arruinar is regular: arruinara, arruinaras, arruinara, arruináramos, arruinarais, arruinaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: arruina
The imperative of arruinar uses arruina (tú), arruinad (vosotros), and subjunctive forms for others.
Negative Imperative
yo: no arruines
The negative imperative of arruinar always uses the present subjunctive forms preceded by 'no'.