botar Imperfect Conjugation
botar — to throw away
Use 'botaba', 'botabas', 'botaba', 'botábamos', 'botabais', 'botaban' for ongoing or habitual past actions of throwing away.
botar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
The imperfect tense of 'botar' describes actions of throwing away that were happening over a period in the past, or habits in the past. For example: 'He used to throw away the newspapers every day' or 'While I was throwing away the old boxes, you were cleaning.'
Notes on botar in the Imperfect
Botar is regular in the imperfect indicative tense. The stem 'bot-' is combined with the standard -ar imperfect endings: 'botaba' (yo), 'botabas' (tú), 'botaba' (él/ella/usted), 'botábamos' (nosotros), 'botabais' (vosotros), 'botaban' (ellos/ellas/ustedes).
Example Sentences
Yo botaba las revistas viejas cada mes.
I used to throw away the old magazines every month.
yo
Tú siempre botabas los envoltorios en la calle.
You always used to throw away the wrappers on the street.
tú
Ella botaba las cenizas en el cenicero.
She was throwing the ashes into the ashtray.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros botábamos la basura por la mañana.
We used to throw away the trash in the morning.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the preterite ('botó') for a habitual past action.
Correct: Use 'Botaba la basura todos los días' (I used to throw away the trash every day), not 'Botó la basura todos los días'.
Why: The imperfect describes repeated or ongoing past actions, while the preterite describes single, completed events.
Mistake: Confusing the nosotros imperfect form.
Correct: It should be 'botábamos', not 'botamos' or 'botábamos'.
Why: The nosotros imperfect ending for -ar verbs is -ábamos.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: boto
Use 'boto', 'botas', 'bota', 'botamos', 'botáis', 'botan' for current or habitual actions of throwing away.
Preterite
yo: boté
Use 'boté', 'botaste', 'botó', 'botamos', 'botasteis', 'botaron' for completed actions of throwing away.
Future
yo: botaré
Use 'botaré', 'botarás', 'botará', 'botaremos', 'botaréis', 'botarán' for future actions of throwing away.
Conditional
yo: botaría
Use 'botaría', 'botarías', 'botaría', 'botaríamos', 'botaríais', 'botarían' for hypothetical or polite commands with botar.
Present Subjunctive
yo: bote
Use 'bote' (yo/él/ella/usted) and 'boten' (ellos/ellas/ustedes) for wishes, doubts, and emotions with botar.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: botara
Use 'botara' or 'botase' forms for hypothetical or past subjunctive situations with botar.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: bota
Use imperative forms like 'bota' (tú) and 'boten' (ustedes) for direct commands with botar.
Negative Imperative
yo: no botes
Use 'no botes' (tú) and 'no boten' (ustedes) for negative commands with botar.