cumplir Imperfect Conjugation
cumplir — fulfill
Cumplir in the imperfect uses standard -ía endings: cumplía, cumplías, cumplía, cumplíamos, cumplíais, cumplían.
cumplir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a recurring responsibility in the past or to set the scene. It describes what someone used to fulfill or was in the process of fulfilling.
Notes on cumplir in the Imperfect
Cumplir is regular in the imperfect. All forms have an accent on the 'í' throughout the entire conjugation.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo siempre cumplía con mis deberes.
As a child, I always fulfilled my duties.
yo
En esa empresa, ellos no cumplían los contratos.
In that company, they didn't honor the contracts.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Tú cumplías años el mismo día que mi madre.
You used to have your birthday on the same day as my mother.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i' (cumplia).
Correct: cumplía
Why: The -ía endings for -ir verbs in the imperfect always carry an accent to maintain the correct stress.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: cumplo
Cumplir is regular in the present tense: cumplo, cumples, cumple, cumplimos, cumplís, cumplen.
Preterite
yo: cumplí
The preterite of cumplir is regular: cumplí, cumpliste, cumplió, cumplimos, cumplisteis, cumplieron.
Future
yo: cumpliré
The future of cumplir is formed by adding endings to the infinitive: cumpliré, cumplirás, cumplirá, cumpliremos, cumpliréis, cumplirán.
Conditional
yo: cumpliría
The conditional of cumplir is regular: cumpliría, cumplirías, cumpliría, cumpliríamos, cumpliríais, cumplirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: cumpla
The present subjunctive of cumplir uses -a endings: cumpla, cumplas, cumpla, cumplamos, cumpláis, cumplan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: cumpliera
The imperfect subjunctive of cumplir is based on the preterite stem: cumpliera, cumplieras, cumpliera, cumpliéramos, cumplierais, cumplieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: cumple
The imperative of cumplir gives direct orders: cumple, cumpla, cumplamos, cumplid, cumplan.
Negative Imperative
yo: no cumplas
The negative imperative of cumplir uses present subjunctive forms: no cumplas, no cumpla, no cumplamos, no cumpláis, no cumplan.