sobrevivir Imperfect Conjugation
sobrevivir — to survive
Sobrevivir in the imperfect follows regular -ir patterns: sobrevivía, sobrevivías, sobrevivía, sobrevivíamos, sobrevivíais, sobrevivían.
sobrevivir Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use the imperfect to describe how someone used to survive in the past or to set the scene of a survival situation without a specific end point.
Notes on sobrevivir in the Imperfect
Sobrevivir is regular in the imperfect. All forms have an accent on the first 'i' of the ending.
Example Sentences
En esa época, la gente sobrevivía cazando animales.
In those times, people survived by hunting animals.
él/ella/usted
Nosotros sobrevivíamos con el sueldo mínimo.
We used to survive on minimum wage.
nosotros
Ellos sobrevivían en condiciones muy difíciles.
They were surviving in very difficult conditions.
ellos/ellas/ustedes
Common Mistakes
Mistake: sobrevivia
Correct: sobrevivía
Why: The accent on the 'i' is mandatory for all forms of -ir verbs in the imperfect.
Master Spanish verbs in context
Memorizing tables only gets you so far. Read 200+ illustrated and narrated Spanish stories to see verbs like 'sobrevivir' used naturally — in the tenses you're learning.
Related Tenses
Present
yo: sobrevivo
Sobrevivir is completely regular in the present tense: sobrevivo, sobrevives, sobrevive, sobrevivimos, sobrevivís, sobreviven.
Preterite
yo: sobreviví
Sobrevivir is regular in the preterite: sobreviví, sobreviviste, sobrevivió, sobrevivimos, sobrevivisteis, sobrevivieron.
Future
yo: sobreviviré
The future of sobrevivir uses the infinitive plus standard endings: sobreviviré, sobrevivirás, sobrevivirá, sobreviviremos, sobreviviréis, sobrevivirán.
Conditional
yo: sobreviviría
Sobrevivir is regular in the conditional: sobreviviría, sobrevivirías, sobreviviría, sobreviviríamos, sobreviviríais, sobrevivirían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: sobreviva
The present subjunctive of sobrevivir is regular: sobreviva, sobrevivas, sobreviva, sobrevivamos, sobreviváis, sobrevivan.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: sobreviviera
Sobrevivir in the imperfect subjunctive uses the preterite stem: sobreviviera, sobrevivieras, sobreviviera, sobreviviéramos, sobrevivierais, sobrevivieran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: sobrevive
The imperative of sobrevivir is regular: sobrevive (tú), sobreviva (usted), sobrevivamos (nosotros), sobrevivíd (vosotros), sobrevivan (ustedes).
Negative Imperative
yo: no sobrevivas
The negative imperative of sobrevivir uses the present subjunctive: no sobrevivas, no sobreviva, no sobrevivamos, no sobreviváis, no sobrevivan.