merecer Imperfect Conjugation
merecer — to deserve
Merecer is regular in the imperfect: merecía, merecías, merecía, merecíamos, merecíais, merecían.
merecer Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe an ongoing state of 'deserving' in the past or to set the scene for why something happened.
Notes on merecer in the Imperfect
Merecer is regular in the imperfect. All forms use the -ía ending typical of -er verbs.
Example Sentences
En aquel entonces, yo merecía una explicación.
Back then, I deserved an explanation.
yo
Sentíamos que merecíamos más apoyo.
We felt that we deserved more support.
nosotros
Ustedes merecían saber la verdad.
You all deserved to know the truth.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'i'.
Correct: merecía, merecíamos, etc.
Why: All imperfect forms of -er and -ir verbs require an accent on the 'i'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: merezco
Merecer is irregular in the first person (yo merezco), while the other forms follow regular -er patterns.
Preterite
yo: merecí
Merecer is regular in the preterite: merecí, mereciste, mereció, merecimos, merecisteis, merecieron.
Future
yo: mereceré
The future of merecer is regular: mereceré, merecerás, merecerá, mereceremos, mereceréis, merecerán.
Conditional
yo: merecería
The conditional of merecer is regular: merecería, merecerías, merecería, mereceríamos, mereceríais, merecerían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: merezca
The present subjunctive uses the 'merezc-' stem for all persons.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: mereciera
The imperfect subjunctive uses the stem 'merecie-': mereciera, merecieras, mereciera, mereciéramos, merecierais, merecieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: merece
The imperative uses 'merece' for tú and 'merezca' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no merezcas
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms with 'no'.