obstruir Imperfect Conjugation
obstruir — to block
Obstruir is regular in the imperfect: obstruía, obstruías, obstruía, obstruíamos, obstruíais, obstruían.
obstruir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe an ongoing blockage in the past or a situation that used to block something regularly.
Notes on obstruir in the Imperfect
Like almost all -ir verbs, the imperfect is regular. Every form has an accent on the 'í'.
Example Sentences
El coche viejo siempre obstruía la entrada.
The old car was always blocking the driveway.
él/ella/usted
Antes, los muebles obstruían el pasillo.
Before, the furniture used to block the hallway.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Nosotros obstruíamos la calle mientras jugábamos.
We were blocking the street while we played.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: obstruia
Correct: obstruía
Why: The 'í' in the -ía endings must always have an accent to keep the vowels in separate syllables.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: obstruyo
Obstruir adds a 'y' in most forms: obstruyo, obstruyes, obstruye, obstruyen (but not nosotros/vosotros).
Preterite
yo: obstruí
Obstruir is irregular in the 3rd person (él/ellos), changing 'i' to 'y': obstruyó, obstruyeron.
Future
yo: obstruiré
Obstruir is regular in the future: obstruiré, obstruirás, obstruirá, obstruiremos, obstruiréis, obstruirán.
Conditional
yo: obstruiría
Obstruir is regular in the conditional: obstruiría, obstruirías, obstruiría, obstruiríamos, obstruiríais, obstruirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: obstruya
Obstruir adds a 'y' before the endings in all forms: obstruya, obstruyas, obstruya, obstruyamos, obstruyáis, obstruyan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: obstruyera
Based on the 3rd person preterite, it uses the 'y' stem: obstruyera, obstruyeras, obstruyera...
Affirmative Imperative
yo: obstruye
Give commands using the 'y' forms: obstruye (tú), obstruya (usted), obstruyan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no obstruyas
All negative commands use the present subjunctive: no obstruyas, no obstruya, no obstruyamos...