secar Imperfect Conjugation
secar — to dry
The imperfect of secar is regular: secaba, secabas, secaba, secábamos, secabais, secaban.
secar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this for ongoing past actions (e.g., 'I was drying the floor when...') or past habits.
Notes on secar in the Imperfect
Secar is a regular -ar verb in the imperfect.
Example Sentences
Yo secaba los vasos mientras ella lavaba.
I was drying the glasses while she was washing.
yo
Antes secábamos la ropa al sol.
Before, we used to dry the clothes in the sun.
nosotros
Los niños secaban al perro después del baño.
The kids were drying the dog after the bath.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: Forgetting the accent on the 'nosotros' form.
Correct: secábamos
Why: In the imperfect -ar verbs, only the 'nosotros' form has an accent on the first 'a' of the ending.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'secar' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: seco
The present tense of secar is completely regular: seco, secas, seca, secamos, secáis, secan.
Preterite
yo: sequé
Secar is regular except for the 'yo' form, which changes to 'sequé' to preserve the pronunciation.
Future
yo: secaré
The future tense is regular; just add the endings to the infinitive: secaré, secarás, secará, secaremos, secaréis, secarán.
Conditional
yo: secaría
The conditional is regular: add -ía endings to the infinitive (secaría, secarías, secaría, secaríamos, secaríais, secarían).
Present Subjunctive
yo: seque
The present subjunctive of secar features a spelling change (c to qu) in all forms: seque, seques, seque, sequemos, sequéis, sequen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: secara
The imperfect subjunctive is regular based on the preterite stem: secara, secaras, secara, secáramos, secarais, secaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: seca
The imperative uses 'seca' (tú) and 'seque' (usted), with the 'c' to 'qu' change in formal and plural commands.
Negative Imperative
yo: no seques
The negative imperative always uses the present subjunctive forms: no seques, no seque, no sequemos, no sequéis, no sequen.