colar Imperfect Conjugation
colar — to strain
Colar is regular in the imperfect: colaba, colabas, colaba, colábamos, colabais, colaban.
colar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe how you used to strain things (like a habitual cooking process) or to set the scene: 'I was straining the milk when...'
Notes on colar in the Imperfect
Colar is regular in the imperfect. Remember the accent mark on the nosotros form (colábamos).
Example Sentences
Mi abuela siempre colaba la leche fresca.
My grandmother always used to strain the fresh milk.
él/ella/usted
Mientras yo colaba el té, sonó el teléfono.
While I was straining the tea, the phone rang.
yo
Ellos se colaban siempre en las fiestas.
They used to sneak into parties all the time.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'colábamos'.
Correct: colábamos
Why: All -ar verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'a' in the nosotros form.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cuelo
Colar changes its stem from 'o' to 'ue' in the present tense, except for nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: colé
Colar is completely regular in the preterite: colé, colaste, coló, colamos, colasteis, colaron.
Future
yo: colaré
The future of colar is regular: colaré, colarás, colará, colaremos, colaréis, colarán.
Conditional
yo: colaría
The conditional of colar is regular: colaría, colarías, colaría, colaríamos, colaríais, colarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cuele
The present subjunctive of colar follows the o > ue stem change: cuele, cueles, cuele, colemos, coléis, cuelen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: colara
The imperfect subjunctive of colar is regular: colara, colaras, colara, coláramos, colarais, colaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cuela
The imperative uses 'cuela' (tú) and 'cuele' (usted), following the stem change.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cueles
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms: no cueles, no cuele, no colemos, no coléis, no cuelen.