cerrar Imperfect Conjugation
cerrar — to close
Cerrar is regular in the imperfect: cerraba, cerrabas, cerraba, cerrábamos, cerrabais, cerraban.
cerrar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a state of being closed in the past, or a habit of closing something repeatedly.
Notes on cerrar in the Imperfect
Cerrar follows the standard -ar imperfect pattern. There is no stem change in this tense.
Example Sentences
Antes, yo cerraba la puerta con llave siempre.
Before, I used to always lock the door.
yo
La ventana siempre cerraba mal.
The window always closed poorly.
él/ella/usted
Cerrábamos el restaurante a medianoche.
We used to close the restaurant at midnight.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the nosotros form: 'cerrabamos'.
Correct: The correct form is cerrábamos.
Why: All -ar verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'á' in the nosotros form.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cierro
Cerrar is a stem-changing verb (e > ie) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: cerré
Cerrar is regular in the preterite: cerré, cerraste, cerró, cerramos, cerrasteis, cerraron.
Future
yo: cerraré
Cerrar is regular in the future: cerraré, cerrarás, cerrará, cerraremos, cerraréis, cerrarán.
Conditional
yo: cerraría
Cerrar is regular in the conditional: cerraría, cerrarías, cerraría, cerraríamos, cerraríais, cerrarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cierre
The present subjunctive of cerrar mirrors the present indicative stem change: cierre, cierres, cierre, cerremos, cerréis, cierren.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cerrara
Cerrar is regular in the imperfect subjunctive (based on the preterite stem): cerrara, cerraras, cerrara, cerráramos, cerrarais, cerraran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: ¡Cierra!
Use 'cierra' (tú) or 'cierre' (usted) for commands; remember the stem change in most forms.
Negative Imperative
yo: ¡No cierres!
The negative imperative uses 'no' + present subjunctive: no cierres, no cierre, no cerremos, no cerréis, no cierren.