referir Imperfect Conjugation
referir — to refer
Referir is completely regular in the imperfect: refería, referías, refería...
referir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe who someone used to refer to or what a document was referring to over a period of time.
Notes on referir in the Imperfect
Referir is regular in the imperfect. All -ir verbs use the -ía endings in this tense.
Example Sentences
Siempre se refería a su abuelo con cariño.
He always referred to his grandfather with affection.
él/ella/usted
Nos referíamos a ellos como 'los expertos'.
We used to refer to them as 'the experts'.
nosotros
Tú te referías a otra cosa, ¿verdad?
You were referring to something else, right?
tú
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Using 'referaba' instead of 'refería'.
Correct: refería
Why: -aba is only for -ar verbs. -er and -ir verbs use -ía in the imperfect.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: refiero
Referir is an e > ie stem-changing verb, except for the nosotros and vosotros forms.
Preterite
yo: referí
Referir is mostly regular but has a 'slipper' stem change (e > i) in the third-person forms.
Future
yo: referiré
Referir is completely regular in the future tense: infinitive + endings.
Conditional
yo: referiría
Referir is regular in the conditional: infinitive + -ía, -ías, -ía...
Present Subjunctive
yo: refiera
Referir has a stem change (e > ie) and a special change in the nosotros/vosotros forms (e > i).
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: refiriera
The stem changes to 'refiri-' for all persons in this past-tense hypothetical form.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: refiere
The imperative uses the e > ie stem change for 'tú' and 'usted', but 'i' for 'nosotros'.
Negative Imperative
yo: no refieras
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms with 'no'.