despedir Imperfect Conjugation
despedir — to fire
Despedir is regular in the imperfect: despedía, despedías, despedía, despedíamos, despedíais, despedían.
despedir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe the ongoing process of a layoff or a habit of saying goodbye in the past.
Notes on despedir in the Imperfect
Despedir is regular in the imperfect. It follows the standard -ía endings for -ir verbs and keeps its original stem 'desped-'.
Example Sentences
Antes, la empresa despedía a menos gente.
Before, the company used to fire fewer people.
él/ella/usted
Siempre nos despedíamos con un beso.
We always used to say goodbye with a kiss.
nosotros
Yo sabía que me despedían ese día.
I knew they were firing me that day.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Applying an e > i stem change (despidía).
Correct: The correct form is despedía.
Why: Stem-changing -ir verbs do not change their stems in the imperfect indicative.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: despido
Despedir is a stem-changing verb (e > i) in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: despedí
Despedir has a stem change (e > i) only in the third-person forms: despidió and despidieron.
Future
yo: despediré
Despedir is completely regular in the future tense, using the full infinitive as the base.
Conditional
yo: despediría
The conditional of despedir is regular and formed by adding endings to the infinitive: despediría.
Present Subjunctive
yo: despida
The present subjunctive of despedir stem-changes e > i in ALL forms, including nosotros.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: despidiera
Based on the third-person preterite, the imperfect subjunctive uses the 'i' stem: despidiera.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: despide
The imperative uses 'despide' for tú and 'despida' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no despidas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive forms: no despidas, no despida.