concebir Imperfect Conjugation
concebir — to conceive
The imperfect of concebir is completely regular: concebía, concebías, concebía...
concebir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe how someone used to view a concept over time or to set the background for a story about an idea.
Notes on concebir in the Imperfect
There are no stem changes in the imperfect. It follows the standard -ía endings for -ir verbs.
Example Sentences
Antes, yo no concebía que esto fuera posible.
Before, I didn't conceive that this was possible.
yo
Nosotros concebíamos el proyecto de forma diferente.
We used to conceive the project in a different way.
nosotros
Ellos concebían la libertad como un derecho absoluto.
They conceived of freedom as an absolute right.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: yo concibía
Correct: yo concebía
Why: Learners often try to apply the e-i stem change here, but the imperfect never has stem changes for -ir verbs.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'concebir' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: concibo
Concebir follows an e-i stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: concebí
Concebir has a third-person stem change (e-i) in the preterite: concibió and concibieron.
Future
yo: concebiré
Concebir is regular in the future; just add endings to the infinitive (concebiré).
Conditional
yo: concebiría
The conditional of concebir is regular: concebiría, concebirías, concebiría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: conciba
Concebir changes the stem to 'concib-' for all subjects in the present subjunctive.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: concibiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'concib-' stem: concibiera, concibieras...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: concibe
Use 'concibe' (tú) or 'conciban' (ustedes) to tell someone to form an idea.
Negative Imperative
yo: no concibas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms with 'no'.