gastar Imperfect Conjugation
gastar — to spend
The imperfect of gastar is regular: gastaba, gastabas, gastaba, gastábamos, gastabais, gastaban.
gastar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or to set the scene. For example, 'Cuando era niño, gastaba toda mi paga en caramelos' (When I was a child, I used to spend all my allowance on candy) or 'Ella gastaba mucho dinero en esa época' (She spent a lot of money back then).
Notes on gastar in the Imperfect
Gastar is regular in the imperfect tense. It follows the standard conjugation pattern for -ar verbs.
Example Sentences
Yo gastaba mucho dinero cuando vivía en la ciudad.
I used to spend a lot of money when I lived in the city.
yo
¿Tú gastabas todo tu sueldo en ese entonces?
Did you used to spend your whole salary back then?
tú
Él gastaba bromas a sus amigos.
He used to play jokes on his friends.
él/ella/usted
Ellos gastaban mucho en viajes cada año.
They spent a lot on trips every year.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using the preterite ('gasté') for habitual past actions.
Correct: For habitual or ongoing past actions, use the imperfect: 'Yo gastaba'.
Why: The imperfect describes background and repeated actions, while the preterite describes completed events.
Mistake: Confusing the 'vosotros' form 'gastabais' with other forms.
Correct: The correct vosotros imperfect form is 'gastabais'.
Why: This ending is specific to the vosotros form and can be confused with similar-sounding endings.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: gasto
Gastar is regular in the present tense: gasto, gastas, gasta, gastamos, gastáis, gastan.
Preterite
yo: gasté
The preterite of gastar is regular: gasté, gastaste, gastó, gastamos, gastasteis, gastaron.
Future
yo: gastaré
The future tense of gastar is regular: gastaré, gastarás, gastará, gastaremos, gastaréis, gastarán.
Conditional
yo: gastaría
The conditional of gastar is regular: gastaría, gastarías, gastaría, gastaríamos, gastaríais, gastarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: gaste
The present subjunctive of gastar: 'gaste', 'gastes', 'gastemos', 'gastéis', 'gasten'.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: gastara
The imperfect subjunctive of gastar has two forms: gastara/gastase and gastáramos/gastásemos.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: gasta
The imperative of gastar is mostly regular, with specific commands like 'gasta' (tú) and 'gastad' (vosotros).
Negative Imperative
yo: no gastes
Negative commands for gastar use the present subjunctive: 'no gastes', 'no gaste', 'no gastemos', 'no gastéis', 'no gasten'.