encender Imperfect Conjugation
encender — turn on
Encender is regular in the imperfect: encendía, encendías, encendía, encendíamos, encendíais, encendían.
encender Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe habitual past actions (like turning on a lamp every night) or an ongoing state (the light was turning on/flickering).
Notes on encender in the Imperfect
Encender is a regular -er verb in the imperfect. All forms have an accented 'í'.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo encendía la linterna para leer.
As a child, I used to turn on the flashlight to read.
yo
Encendíamos la chimenea cada invierno.
We used to light the fireplace every winter.
nosotros
Las farolas se encendían automáticamente.
The streetlights used to turn on automatically.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on 'encendiamos'.
Correct: encendíamos
Why: All forms of -er verbs in the imperfect require an accent on the 'i'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: enciendo
Encender has an e>ie stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros: enciendo, enciendes, enciende...
Preterite
yo: encendí
Encender is regular in the preterite: encendí, encendiste, encendió, encendimos, encendisteis, encendieron.
Future
yo: encenderé
The future of encender is regular: encenderé, encenderás, encenderá, encenderemos, encenderéis, encenderán.
Conditional
yo: encendería
The conditional of encender is regular: encendería, encenderías, encendería, encenderíamos, encenderíais, encenderían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: encienda
The present subjunctive follows the e>ie stem change: encienda, enciendas, encienda, encendamos, encendáis, enciendan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: encendiera
The imperfect subjunctive of encender is: encendiera, encendieras, encendiera, encendiéramos, encendierais, encendieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: enciende
Use enciende (tú), encienda (usted), or encended (vosotros) to tell someone to turn something on.
Negative Imperative
yo: no enciendas
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no enciendas, no encienda, no encendamos...