# Albanian: imperfect tense vs. continuous imperfect



## mateo19

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if someone could explain to me what is the difference between the imperfect tense and the continuous imperfect tense in Albanian.  I think that they both translate to "was x-ing", right?  For example:

unë po mendoja - I was thinking
unë mendoja  - I was thinking???

Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it!  
Have a great day!


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## Tulipani Zi

mateo19 said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> I was wondering if someone could explain to me what is the difference between the imperfect tense and the continuous imperfect tense in Albanian.  I think that they both translate to "was x-ing", right?  For example:
> 
> unë po mendoja - I was thinking
> unë mendoja  - I was thinking???
> 
> Thank you for your input, I really appreciate it!
> Have a great day!



The first one is correct.
unë mendoja  - could mean "I was thinking" or "I thought" depending on the context.

Examples:
1. "Unë mendoja se do të vinit edhe ju" - "I thought you'd come too." 
2. "Unë mendoja të vija me ju" - "I was thinking to come with you."

Hope this helps.


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## todosmentira

The second form (without 'po') is not past continuous - it is used to indicate a repeated / habitual action in the past; let's take Punoj ~(to work,) as an example.

Po punoja në Angli -- I was working in England.

Punoja në Angli -- I would work/I used to work in England.


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## Tulipani Zi

todosmentira said:


> The second form (without 'po') is not past continuous - it is used to indicate a repeated / habitual action in the past; let's take Punoj ~(to work,) as an example.
> 
> Po punoja në Angli -- I was working in England.
> 
> Punoja në Angli -- I would work/I used to work in England.



Much better explanation.


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