You can better understand complex sentences once you have learned the imperfect tense.
The imperfect tense in Spanish is used for past, ongoing actions. The imperfect tense implies that an action has no definite beginning or definite end. It can also be used for actions that are repeated habitually. For example, "I got the mail after work every day" would use the imperfect tense. In addition, the imperfect is always used when stating a past time. For example, "It was 11 a.m." would be in the imperfect.
-AR Verb Endings
Verbs ending in -ar, such as hablar (to speak) are conjugated by dropping the -ar and adding the appropriate ending depending on the corresponding noun. All -ar verbs should be conjugated just like hablar, as follows: yo hablaba; tu hablabas; el hablaba; nosotros hablabamos; vosotros hablabais; and ellos hablaban.
-ER and -IR Verb Endings
Verbs ending in -er and -ir such as comer (to eat) and vivir (to live) are conjugated by dropping the -er or -ir and adding the appropriate ending. For comer, you would be left with the root "com-" and with vivir, you would be left with the root "viv-" All -er verbs should be conjugated like comer: yo comía; tu comías; el comía; nosotros comíamos; vosotros comíais and ellos comían. All -ir verbs will be conjugated the same way. Here is an example using vivir: yo vivía; tu vivías; el vivía; nosotros vivíamos; vosotros vivíais; ellos vivían.
Irregular Verbs
There are only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense: ir (to go), ser (to be) and ver (to see). Ir is conjugated as follows: yo iba; tu ibas; el iba; nosotros ibamos; vosotros ibais; and ellos iban. Ser is conjugated as follows: yo era; tu eras; el era; nosotros ramos; vosotros erais; and ellos eran. Ver is conjugated as follows: yo veía; tu veías; el veía; nosotros veíamos; vosotros veíais; ellos veían
