diferir Imperfect Conjugation
diferir — to differ
Diferir is completely regular in the imperfect: difería, diferías, difería...
diferir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe ongoing differences in the past or to set the scene when explaining how things used to differ habitually.
Notes on diferir in the Imperfect
Diferir is regular in this tense. It follows the standard -ía endings for -ir verbs without any stem changes.
Example Sentences
Antes, nuestras ideas no diferían tanto.
Before, our ideas didn't differ so much.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Yo difería de mi jefe casi todos los días.
I used to differ with my boss almost every day.
yo
En aquel entonces, el precio difería según la región.
Back then, the price differed depending on the region.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: difiería
Correct: difería
Why: Learners often try to carry the present tense stem change (ie) into the imperfect, but the imperfect has no stem changes.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: difiero
Diferir follows an e-ie stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: diferí
Diferir has a third-person stem change (e-i): difirió and difirieron.
Future
yo: diferiré
Diferir is regular in the future: use the full infinitive plus endings (diferiré).
Conditional
yo: diferiría
Diferir is regular in the conditional: diferiría, diferirías, diferiría.
Present Subjunctive
yo: difiera
Diferir has stem changes in all forms: e-ie in most, and e-i in nosotros/vosotros.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: difiriera
All forms use the 'difir-' stem derived from the preterite 3rd person.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: difiere
Commands use 'difiere' (tú) and 'difiera' (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no difieras
Negative commands use the present subjunctive forms: no difieras, no difiera.