parar Imperfect Conjugation
parar — to stop
Parar follows the regular -aba pattern in the imperfect: paraba, parabas, paraba, parábamos, parabais, paraban.
parar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe a recurring stop in the past or a stop that was in progress when something else happened.
Notes on parar in the Imperfect
Parar is fully regular in the imperfect. Remember the accent on the 'nosotros' form: parábamos.
Example Sentences
De niño, yo paraba siempre en el parque.
As a child, I used to stop at the park all the time.
yo
Nosotros parábamos a descansar cada hora.
We used to stop to rest every hour.
nosotros
El tren paraba en cada estación pequeña.
The train was stopping at every small station.
él/ella/usted
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Confusing 'paraba' (yo) and 'paraba' (él).
Correct: Use context or add a subject pronoun like 'yo' or 'él'.
Why: The first and third person singular forms are identical in the imperfect.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: paro
Parar is regular in the present: paro, paras, para, paramos, paráis, paran.
Preterite
yo: paré
The preterite of parar is regular: paré, paraste, paró, paramos, parasteis, pararon.
Future
yo: pararé
The future of parar uses the infinitive as the stem: pararé, pararás, parará, pararemos, pararéis, pararán.
Conditional
yo: pararía
The conditional of parar is regular: pararía, pararías, pararía, pararíamos, pararíais, pararían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: pare
The present subjunctive of parar changes the -a to -e: pare, pares, pare, paremos, paréis, paren.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: parara
The imperfect subjunctive of parar uses the -ara stem: parara, pararas, parara, paráramos, pararais, pararan.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: para
The imperative of parar gives direct orders: para (tú), pare (usted), paremos (nosotros), parad (vosotros), paren (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no pares
The negative imperative of parar uses the present subjunctive: no pares, no pare, no paremos, no paréis, no paren.