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A close-up of a human finger pressing down on a large, bright red round button.

oprimir Imperfect Conjugation

oprimirto press

B1regular -ir★★★★
Quick answer:

Oprimía, oprimías, oprimía, oprimíamos, oprimíais, oprimían describe ongoing or habitual past pressing.

oprimir Imperfect Forms

yooprimía
oprimías
él/ella/ustedoprimía
nosotrosoprimíamos
vosotrosoprimíais
ellos/ellas/ustedesoprimían

When to Use the Imperfect

Use the imperfect tense for actions of pressing that were ongoing or habitual in the past. For example, describing someone who constantly pressed a certain button, or what was happening when a button was pressed.

Notes on oprimir in the Imperfect

Oprimir is regular in the imperfect tense.

Example Sentences

  • Cuando era niño, oprimía este botón por curiosidad.

    When I was a child, I used to press this button out of curiosity.

    yo

  • Tú oprimías el acelerador suavemente.

    You were pressing the accelerator gently.

  • El médico oprimía el punto de dolor.

    The doctor was pressing the point of pain.

    él/ella/usted

  • Mientras oprimíamos los botones, las luces parpadeaban.

    While we were pressing the buttons, the lights were flashing.

    nosotros

  • Ellos oprimían el interruptor cada hora.

    They pressed the switch every hour.

    ellos/ellas/ustedes

Common Mistakes

  • Mistake: Using the preterite 'oprimió' instead of the imperfect 'oprimía'.

    Correct: Use 'oprimía' to describe a habitual or ongoing past action.

    Why: The imperfect describes background or repeated actions, while the preterite describes a single, completed event.

  • Mistake: Confusing the yo and él/ella/usted forms.

    Correct: Both are 'oprimía', but context clarifies the subject.

    Why: This is a common feature of the imperfect tense for -er and -ir verbs.

Master Spanish verbs in context

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Related Tenses