distinguir Imperfect Conjugation
distinguir — to tell apart
The imperfect of distinguir is regular: distinguía, distinguías, distinguía, distinguíamos, distinguíais, distinguían.
distinguir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for ongoing past situations, like when you 'used to' be able to tell things apart or were in the process of trying to see something clearly.
Notes on distinguir in the Imperfect
This verb is regular in the imperfect. All forms use the -ía endings typical of -ir verbs.
Example Sentences
De niño, no distinguía bien los sabores.
As a child, I couldn't distinguish flavors well.
yo
Antes distinguíamos mejor las estrellas.
Before, we used to distinguish the stars better.
nosotros
Ustedes distinguían a los pájaros por su canto.
You all used to tell the birds apart by their song.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'í'.
Correct: distinguía
Why: All -ir verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'i' for every single person.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: distingo
The present of distinguir is mostly regular, but the 'yo' form changes to 'distingo' to keep the sound right.
Preterite
yo: distinguí
Distinguir is completely regular in the preterite: distinguí, distinguiste, distinguió, distinguimos, distinguisteis, distinguieron.
Future
yo: distinguiré
The future of distinguir is regular: just add the endings to the infinitive (distinguiré).
Conditional
yo: distinguiría
The conditional of distinguir is regular: añadiría, añadirías... wait, I mean: distinguiría, distinguirías, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: distinga
The present subjunctive follows the 'yo' form change: distinga, distingas, distinga, distingamos, distingáis, distingan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: distinguiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the preterite stem: distinguiera, distinguieras, distinguiera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: distingue
Give commands to distinguish: distingue (tú), distinga (usted), distingamos (nosotros), distinguid (vosotros), distingan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no distingas
Negative commands use the present subjunctive: no distingas, no distinga, no distingamos, no distingáis, no distingan.