comportar Imperfect Conjugation
comportar — to entail
The imperfect of comportar (comportaba, comportabas, comportaba, comportábamos, comportabais, comportaban) describes past habits and ongoing actions.
comportar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect tense to describe habitual actions in the past ('he/she/it used to behave') or ongoing actions in the past ('he/she/it was behaving'). It sets the scene or describes background conditions related to behavior or entailment.
Notes on comportar in the Imperfect
Comportar is regular in the imperfect tense. Remember to use the reflexive pronoun (me, te, se, nos, os, se) with 'comportarse'.
Example Sentences
Cuando era niño, me comportaba muy diferente.
When I was a child, I used to behave very differently.
yo
¿Tú te comportabas mal en clase?
Did you used to behave badly in class?
tú
Ella se comportaba como una princesa.
She behaved like a princess.
él/ella/usted
Antes, este tipo de contrato se comportaba menos riesgos.
Before, this type of contract entailed fewer risks.
él/ella/usted
Ellos se comportaban de forma muy educada.
They behaved very politely.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the preterite for past habits.
Correct: For habitual behavior in the past, use the imperfect: 'Ella se comportaba bien' (she used to behave well), not 'Ella se comportó bien' (she behaved well - a completed instance).
Why: The imperfect describes repeated or ongoing actions in the past, while the preterite describes single, completed events.
Mistake: Confusing 'comportaba' (imperfect) with 'comportó' (preterite).
Correct: Remember the double 'b' in the imperfect ('comportaba') for ongoing or habitual past actions.
Why: The different endings clearly distinguish between ongoing/habitual past actions (imperfect) and completed past actions (preterite).
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: comporto
The present indicative (comporto, comportas, comporta, comportamos, comportáis, comportan) describes current actions and habits.
Preterite
yo: comporté
Comporté, compraste, compró, compramos, comprastéis, compraron are the regular preterite forms of comportarse.
Future
yo: comportaré
The future tense (comportaré, comportarás, comportará, etc.) indicates actions that will happen.
Conditional
yo: comportaría
The conditional of comportar (comportaría, comportarías, comportaría, etc.) expresses hypotheticals and polite requests.
Present Subjunctive
yo: comporte
The present subjunctive (comporte, comportes, comportemos, comportéis, comporten) expresses wishes, doubts, and emotions.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: comportara
The imperfect subjunctive of comportar (comportara/comportase) is used for past hypotheticals, wishes, and in polite requests.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: comporta
Comporta, comporte, comportemos, comportad, comporten are the imperative commands for comportar.
Negative Imperative
yo: no comportes
Negative commands like no comportes, no comporte, no comportemos, no comportéis, no comporten use the present subjunctive.