First Entry ÷G5775 Tense: Imperfect “I was going” The imperfect tense generally represents continual or repeated action. Where the present tense might indicate "they are asking, " the imperfect would indicate "they were asking. " The difference in meaning between the imperfect and the aorist is the difference between perfective verbal aspect (action seen as complete: aorist) and progressive verbal aspect (action viewed as being in progress: imperfect). This difference is not always easy to convey in English translation. A useful means of conveying the difference in many narrative contexts is to use the simple past for the aorist and the progressive past for the imperfect. Thus aorist would be, “I taught, ” but imperfect would be, “I was teaching. ” In the case of the verb "to be, " however, the imperfect tense is used as a general past tense and does not carry the connotation of continual or repeated action. (I were being; is just foolishness.) ... 

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