entretener Imperfect Conjugation
entretener — to entertain
Entretener is regular in the imperfect: entretenía, entretenías, entretenía.
entretener Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe habitual entertainment in the past or to set the scene (e.g., 'the show was entertaining the crowd when...').
Notes on entretener in the Imperfect
There are no irregularities here. Just use the standard -er endings for the imperfect: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían.
Example Sentences
De niño, me entretenía con cualquier juguete.
As a child, I used to entertain myself with any toy.
yo
Ellos siempre entretenían a sus invitados con música en vivo.
They always used to entertain their guests with live music.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Nos entreteníamos observando a la gente en el parque.
We used to pass the time watching people in the park.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Missing the accent on the 'í'.
Correct: entretenía
Why: All imperfect forms of -er and -ir verbs require an accent on the 'i'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: entretengo
Entretener follows the 'tener' pattern in the present: it has a 'go' in the yo form and an e-to-ie stem change.
Preterite
yo: entretuve
The preterite of entretener uses the irregular 'tuv' stem: entretuve, entretuviste, entretuvo.
Future
yo: entretendré
The future tense uses the irregular stem 'entretendr-': entretendré, entretendrás.
Conditional
yo: entretendría
The conditional uses the irregular stem 'entretendr-': entretendría, entretendrías.
Present Subjunctive
yo: entretenga
The present subjunctive uses the 'entreteng-' stem: entretenga, entretengas.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: entretuviera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'entretuvier-' stem: entretuviera, entretuvieras.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: entretén
The imperative uses 'entretén' for tú and 'entretengan' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no entretengas
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive: no entretengas, no entretenga.