mascar Imperfect Conjugation
mascar — to chew
The imperfect of mascar is regular: mascaba, mascabas, mascaba, mascábamos, mascabais, mascaban.
mascar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for habitual actions in the past or to describe a continuous state of chewing, like 'I used to chew gum in school'.
Notes on mascar in the Imperfect
Mascar follows the standard -aba pattern for -ar verbs in the imperfect. No spelling changes are needed.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo mascaba chicle todo el día.
As a child, I used to chew gum all day.
yo
Mi abuelo siempre mascaba tabaco.
My grandfather always chewed tobacco.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros mascábamos la comida lentamente.
We were chewing the food slowly.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: mascaba (for nosotros)
Correct: mascábamos
Why: The nosotros form of -ar verbs in the imperfect always requires an accent on the first 'a' of the ending.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: masco
The present tense of mascar is completely regular: masco, mascas, masca, mascamos, mascáis, mascan.
Preterite
yo: masqué
The preterite of mascar is regular except for the 'yo' form spelling change: masqué.
Future
yo: mascaré
The future of mascar is regular: mascaré, mascarás, mascará, mascaremos, mascaréis, mascarán.
Conditional
yo: mascaría
The conditional of mascar is regular: mascaría, mascarías, mascaría, mascaríamos, mascaríais, mascarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: masque
The present subjunctive of mascar requires a c-to-qu spelling change: masque, masques, masque, masquemos, masquéis, masquen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mascara
The imperfect subjunctive is formed from the third-person plural preterite: mascara, mascaras, mascara, mascáramos, mascarais, mascaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: masca
The affirmative imperative of mascar uses 'masca' for tú and 'masque' for usted.
Negative Imperative
yo: no masques
The negative imperative of mascar always uses the 'qu' spelling change: no masques, no masque, no masquemos, no masquéis, no masquen.