beber Imperfect Conjugation
beber — to drink
The imperfect of beber uses -ía endings: bebía, bebías, bebía, bebíamos, bebíais, bebían.
beber Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this tense to describe past habits, like what you used to drink as a child, or to describe an ongoing action that was happening when something else interrupted it.
Notes on beber in the Imperfect
Beber is regular in the imperfect. Every single form in this tense has an accent mark on the 'í'.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo bebía mucha leche.
As a child, I used to drink a lot of milk.
yo
Vosotros bebíais café todas las mañanas.
You all used to drink coffee every morning.
vosotros
Ellas bebían agua mientras caminaban.
They were drinking water while they were walking.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: bebiamos (without accent)
Correct: bebíamos
Why: Learners often forget that the 'nosotros' form in the imperfect indicative for -er verbs requires an accent.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: bebo
Beber is a regular -er verb in the present: bebo, bebes, bebe, bebemos, bebéis, beben.
Preterite
yo: bebí
The preterite of beber is regular: bebí, bebiste, bebió, bebimos, bebisteis, bebieron.
Future
yo: beberé
The future of beber is formed by adding -é, -ás, -á, -emos, -éis, -án to the infinitive.
Conditional
yo: bebería
The conditional of beber adds -ía endings to the infinitive: bebería, beberías, bebería, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: beba
The present subjunctive of beber uses -a endings: beba, bebas, beba, bebamos, bebáis, beban.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: bebiera
The imperfect subjunctive of beber is bebiera, bebieras, bebiera, bebiéramos, bebierais, bebieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: bebe
The affirmative imperative of beber uses: bebe (tú), beba (usted), bebamos (nosotros), bebed (vosotros), beban (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no bebas
The negative imperative of beber uses the present subjunctive: no bebas, no beba, no bebamos, no bebáis, no beban.