contraer Imperfect Conjugation
contraer — to contract
The imperfect of contraer is completely regular: contraía, contraías, contraía.
contraer Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe ongoing past states, like a disease someone was slowly developing or how a material used to behave.
Notes on contraer in the Imperfect
Contraer is regular in the imperfect. All forms have an accent on the 'í'.
Example Sentences
El material se contraía cada vez que bajaba la temperatura.
The material used to contract every time the temperature dropped.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros contraíamos deudas sin darnos cuenta.
We were incurring debts without realizing it.
nosotros
Tú contraías los hombros cuando tenías miedo.
You used to shrug (contract) your shoulders when you were afraid.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i'.
Correct: Always write 'contraía' with an accent.
Why: In -er and -ir verbs, the imperfect 'ía' ending always requires an accent to separate the vowels.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: contraigo
The present tense of contraer is irregular in the 'yo' form (contraigo), but follows regular -er patterns for the rest.
Preterite
yo: contraje
The preterite of contraer is highly irregular, using a 'j' stem: contraje, contrajiste, contrajo.
Future
yo: contraeré
The future tense of contraer is regular: contraeré, contraerás, contraerá.
Conditional
yo: contraería
The conditional of contraer is regular: contraería, contraerías, contraería.
Present Subjunctive
yo: contraiga
The present subjunctive uses the 'contraig-' stem: contraiga, contraigas, contraiga.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: contrajera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'j' stem: contrajera, contrajeras, contrajera.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: contrae
The imperative uses 'contrae' for informal 'tú' and 'contraiga' for formal 'usted'.
Negative Imperative
yo: no contraigas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no contraigas, no contraiga.