padecer Imperfect Conjugation
padecer — to suffer from
Padecer is regular in the imperfect: padecía, padecías, padecía, padecíamos, padecíais, padecían.
padecer Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe long-term conditions in the past or habitual suffering where the exact start and end dates aren't the focus.
Notes on padecer in the Imperfect
Padecer is regular in the imperfect. All forms have an accent on the first 'í' of the ending.
Example Sentences
De niña, ella padecía de asma.
As a child, she used to suffer from asthma.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros padecíamos el calor todos los veranos.
We used to suffer through the heat every summer.
nosotros
Los pacientes padecían síntomas leves.
The patients were suffering from mild symptoms.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: padeciamos
Correct: padecíamos
Why: The 'nosotros' form of -er verbs in the imperfect always requires a written accent on the 'í'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: padezco
Padecer is irregular in the 'yo' form (padezco), while all other forms follow regular -er patterns.
Preterite
yo: padecí
Padecer is completely regular in the preterite: padecí, padeciste, padeció, padecimos, padecisteis, padecieron.
Future
yo: padeceré
Padecer is regular in the future; simply add the endings to the infinitive: padeceré, padecerás, etc.
Conditional
yo: padecería
The conditional uses the full infinitive 'padecer' + ía endings: padecería, padecerías, etc.
Present Subjunctive
yo: padezca
The 'zc' from the 'yo' form carries through all persons: padezca, padezcas, padezca, etc.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: padeciera
Formed from the third-person plural preterite stem: padeciera, padecieras, padeciera.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: padece
The imperative forms for padecer are rarely used but follow standard -er rules and 'zc' for formal commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no padezcas
All negative commands use the 'zc' stem from the present subjunctive: no padezcas, no padezca.