imponer Imperfect Conjugation
imponer — to impose
The imperfect of imponer is completely regular: imponía, imponías, imponía, imponíamos, imponíais, imponían.
imponer Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe how things used to be, such as a teacher who was constantly imposing rules or a regime that held power over time.
Notes on imponer in the Imperfect
Imponer is regular in the imperfect. All -er verbs in this tense use the -ía ending with an accent on the 'i'.
Example Sentences
Mi abuelo siempre imponía su voluntad.
My grandfather always used to impose his will.
él/ella/usted
En esa época, las leyes no imponían tantas trabas.
In those days, the laws didn't impose so many obstacles.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Nosotros imponíamos el ritmo del juego.
We were setting (imposing) the pace of the game.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i' (imponia).
Correct: Always write 'imponía'.
Why: All imperfect endings for -er and -ir verbs require a written accent on the 'i'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: impongo
The present tense of imponer uses the 'g-verb' pattern for 'yo' (impongo), but follows regular -er patterns for all other persons.
Preterite
yo: impuse
Imponer uses the irregular 'pus-' stem in the preterite: impuse, impusiste, impuso, impusimos, impusisteis, impusieron.
Future
yo: impondré
The future tense of imponer uses the irregular stem 'impondr-': impondré, impondrás, impondrá, etc.
Conditional
yo: impondría
The conditional of imponer uses the irregular stem 'impondr-': impondría, impondrías, impondría, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: imponga
The present subjunctive uses the 'impong-' stem: imponga, impongas, imponga, impongamos, impongáis, impongan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: impusiera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the 'impusi-' stem: impusiera, impusieras, impusiera, impusiéramos, impusierais, impusieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: impón
The affirmative imperative has a short 'tú' form (impón) and uses 'impong-' for formal/plural commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no impongas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive: no impongas, no imponga, no impongamos, no impongáis, no impongan.