caer Imperfect Conjugation
caer — to fall
Caer is regular in the imperfect: caía, caías, caía, caíamos, caíais, caían.
caer Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a fall in progress or a habit of falling in the past (e.g., 'I used to fall a lot').
Notes on caer in the Imperfect
While the endings are standard for -er verbs, remember the accent on the 'í' is required for all forms.
Example Sentences
De niño, me caía mucho.
As a child, I used to fall a lot.
yo
La lluvia caía lentamente.
The rain was falling slowly.
él/ella/usted
Las manzanas caían del árbol.
The apples were falling from the tree.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i'.
Correct: caía
Why: All -er and -ir verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'i' to separate the vowels.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: caigo
Caer is irregular only in the 'yo' form (caigo), while the rest follow normal -er patterns.
Preterite
yo: caí
Caer is irregular in the preterite, featuring a 'y' in the third-person forms (cayó, cayeron) and accents on all other endings.
Future
yo: caeré
Caer is regular in the future tense: caeré, caerás, caerá, caeremos, caeréis, caerán.
Conditional
yo: caería
The conditional of caer is regular: caería, caerías, caería, caeríamos, caeríais, caerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: caiga
The present subjunctive of caer is based on the irregular 'yo' form: caiga, caigas, caiga, etc.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cayera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'y' from the preterite: cayera, cayeras, cayera, etc.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cae
The imperative uses 'cae' for tú and 'caiga' for formal/plural commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no caigas
The negative imperative of caer always uses the present subjunctive forms.