escribir Imperfect Conjugation
escribir — to write
The imperfect of escribir uses -ía endings: escribía, escribías, escribía, escribíamos, escribíais, escribían.
escribir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a past writing habit (like writing letters every week) or to describe what you were in the middle of writing when something else happened.
Notes on escribir in the Imperfect
Escribir is regular in the imperfect. All -ir verbs share these same endings.
Example Sentences
De niño, escribía muchas historias de fantasía.
As a child, I used to write many fantasy stories.
yo
Mi abuelo nos escribía cartas largas.
My grandfather used to write us long letters.
él/ella/usted
Mientras ellos escribían, yo leía.
While they were writing, I was reading.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i' (e.g., escribia).
Correct: Always include the accent: escribía.
Why: Every single form of the imperfect for -ir verbs requires an accent on the 'í'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: escribo
The present tense of escribir is a regular -ir verb: escribo, escribes, escribe, escribimos, escribís, escriben.
Preterite
yo: escribí
The preterite of escribir is regular: escribí, escribiste, escribió, escribimos, escribisteis, escribieron.
Future
yo: escribiré
The future tense uses the full infinitive as the base: escribiré, escribirás, escribirá, escribiremos, escribiréis, escribirán.
Conditional
yo: escribiría
The conditional is formed by adding -ía to the infinitive: escribiría, escribirías, escribiría, escribiríamos, escribiríais, escribirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: escriba
The present subjunctive of escribir uses -a endings: escriba, escribas, escriba, escribamos, escribáis, escriban.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: escribiera
The imperfect subjunctive of escribir is built from the 'ellos' preterite: escribiera, escribieras, escribiera, escribiéramos, escribierais, escribieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: escribe
The affirmative imperative gives commands: escribe (tú), escribid (vosotros), escriba (usted), escriban (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no escribas
The negative imperative uses 'no' + present subjunctive: no escribas, no escriba, no escribamos, no escribáis, no escriban.