costar Imperfect Conjugation
costar — to cost
The imperfect of costar is regular: costaba, costabas, costaba, costábamos, costabais, costaban.
costar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe how much things used to cost or to set the scene regarding the difficulty of a situation in the past without a specific end point.
Notes on costar in the Imperfect
Costar is regular in the imperfect. No stem changes occur.
Example Sentences
Antes, el pan costaba muy poco.
Before, bread used to cost very little.
él/ella/usted
Me costaba entender al profesor.
I used to find it hard to understand the teacher.
él/ella/usted
Las casas costaban menos hace diez años.
Houses cost less ten years ago.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'costía' instead of 'costaba'.
Correct: costaba
Why: Costar is an -ar verb, so it uses the -aba endings in the imperfect.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cuesto
In the present tense, costar follows an o-to-ue stem change: cuesto, cuestas, cuesta, costamos, costáis, cuestan.
Preterite
yo: costé
The preterite of costar is regular: costé, costaste, costó, costamos, costasteis, costaron.
Future
yo: costaré
The future of costar is regular: costaré, costarás, costará, costaremos, costaréis, costarán.
Conditional
yo: costaría
The conditional of costar is regular: costaría, costarías, costaría, costaríamos, costaríais, costarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cueste
The present subjunctive follows the o-to-ue stem change: cueste, cuestes, cueste, costemos, costéis, cuesten.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: costara
The imperfect subjunctive of costar is regular: costara, costaras, costara, costáramos, costarais, costaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cuesta
The imperative of costar uses the stem-changed 'cuesta' (tú) and 'cuesten' (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no cuestes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no cuestes, no cueste, no costemos, no costéis, no cuesten.