vaciar Imperfect Conjugation
vaciar — to empty
Vaciar is regular in the imperfect: vaciaba, vaciabas, vaciaba, vaciábamos, vaciabais, vaciaban.
vaciar Imperfect Forms
When to Use the Imperfect
Use this to describe the process of emptying something in the past without a specific end, or a habit you used to have.
Notes on vaciar in the Imperfect
The verb is regular. Note that there are two 'i' sounds next to each other in the stem and ending, but we just write 'vaciaba'.
Example Sentences
Yo vaciaba el agua del bote poco a poco.
I was emptying the water from the boat little by little.
yo
Antes, siempre vaciábamos la casa en agosto.
Before, we always used to empty the house in August.
nosotros
Common Mistakes
Mistake: vaciaba (forgetting the accent on nosotros)
Correct: vaciábamos
Why: All 'nosotros' forms in the imperfect -ar ending require an accent on the first 'a'.
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Related Tenses
Present
yo: vacío
Vaciar is irregular in the present tense, adding an accent to the 'í' in all forms except nosotros and vosotros.
Preterite
yo: vacié
Vaciar is regular in the preterite: vacié, vaciaste, vació, vaciamos, vaciasteis, vaciaron.
Future
yo: vaciaré
Vaciar is regular in the future: vaciaré, vaciarás, vaciará, vaciaremos, vaciaréis, vaciarán.
Conditional
yo: vaciaría
Vaciar is regular in the conditional: vaciaría, vaciarías, vaciaría, vaciaríamos, vaciaríais, vaciarían.
Present Subjunctive
yo: vacíe
The present subjunctive of vaciar follows the same irregular accent pattern as the present indicative: vacíe, vacíes, vacíe, vaciemos, vaciéis, vacíen.
Imperfect Subjunctive
yo: vaciara
The imperfect subjunctive of vaciar is regular: vaciara, vaciaras, vaciara, vaciáramos, vaciarais, vaciaran.
Affirmative Imperative
yo: vacía
The imperative for vaciar uses accented 'í' for most commands: vacía, vacíe, vaciemos, vaciad, vacíen.
Negative Imperative
yo: no vacíes
The negative imperative uses the present subjunctive forms: no vacíes, no vacíe, no vaciemos, no vaciéis, no vacíen.