fregar Imperfect Conjugation
fregar — to scrub
Fregar is completely regular in the imperfect: fregaba, fregabas, fregaba...
fregar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a past habit (e.g., 'I used to scrub the floors every Monday') or an ongoing action ('I was scrubbing when the phone rang').
Notes on fregar in the Imperfect
Fregar is a regular -ar verb in this tense. There are no stem changes or spelling shifts here.
Example Sentences
Mi abuela fregaba el suelo de rodillas.
My grandmother used to scrub the floor on her knees.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros fregábamos los platos mientras ellos secaban.
We were scrubbing the dishes while they were drying.
nosotros
Tú siempre fregabas con mucha fuerza.
You always used to scrub with a lot of force.
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Adding a stem change like 'friegaba'.
Correct: The correct form is 'fregaba'.
Why: Stem changes (e to ie) never occur in the imperfect for -ar verbs.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: friego
Fregar has an 'e' to 'ie' stem change in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: fregué
Fregar has a spelling change (g to gu) in the 'yo' form: fregué.
Future
yo: fregaré
Fregar is regular in the future; just add the endings to the infinitive: fregaré, fregarás...
Conditional
yo: fregaría
Fregar is regular in the conditional: fregaría, fregarías, fregaría...
Present Subjunctive
yo: friegue
The present subjunctive of fregar features both a stem change (e to ie) and a spelling change (g to gu).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: fregara
Based on the preterite 'fregaron', this tense is fregara, fregaras, fregara...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: friega
Commands for fregar: friega (tú), fregad (vosotros), friegue (usted).
Negative Imperative
yo: no friegues
Negative commands use 'no' + present subjunctive: no friegues, no freguéis...