cultivar Imperfect Conjugation
cultivar — to grow
Use 'cultivaba' (yo) and 'cultivaban' (ellos/ellas/ustedes) for ongoing or habitual past growing.
cultivar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
The imperfect describes ongoing actions in the past, habitual actions, or background settings. You'd use it to talk about what someone *used to* grow, or what was *being* grown over a period.
Notes on cultivar in the Imperfect
Cultivar is regular in the imperfect tense. The endings are standard for -ar verbs: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban.
Example Sentences
Cuando era niño, cultivaba un pequeño huerto con mi padre.
When I was a child, I used to grow a small garden with my father.
yo
¿Tú cultivabas rosas en tu jardín?
Did you used to grow roses in your garden?
tú
Ellos cultivaban olivos en esa región.
They used to grow olive trees in that region.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
La tierra cultivaba buenas cosechas en esa época.
The land used to yield good harvests in that era.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the preterite for ongoing past actions: 'Cultivó un jardín por muchos años'.
Correct: For actions over a period or habitual past actions, use imperfect: 'Cultivaba un jardín por muchos años'.
Why: Preterite marks completed actions; imperfect marks ongoing or habitual ones.
Mistake: Confusing 'cultivábamos' (imperfect) with 'cultivamos' (preterite).
Correct: Remember the '-aba' ending for imperfect: 'Nosotros cultivábamos'.
Why: The '-aba' ending is characteristic of the imperfect tense for -ar verbs.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cultivo
Use 'cultivo' (yo) and 'cultivan' (ellos/ellas/ustedes) for what you grow now or habitually.
Preterite
yo: cultivé
Use 'cultivé' (yo) and 'cultivó' (él/ella/usted) for completed past actions of growing.
Future
yo: cultivaré
Use 'cultivaré' (yo) and 'cultivarán' (ellos/ellas/ustedes) for actions that will happen.
Conditional
yo: cultivaría
Use 'cultivaría' (yo) and 'cultivarían' (ellos/ellas/ustedes) for hypothetical 'would' scenarios.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cultive
Use 'cultive' (él/ella/usted) and 'cultiven' (ellos/ellas/ustedes) after wishes, doubts, or emotions.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cultivara
Use 'cultivara' or 'cultivase' for past hypotheticals or wishes.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cultiva
Use 'cultiva' (tú) and 'cultiven' (ustedes) for direct commands to grow things.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cultives
Use 'no cultives' (tú) and 'no cultiven' (ustedes) for negative commands.