íais

Íais is the second-person plural imperfect ending for regular -er and -ir verbs in Spanish, used with the vosotros subject. It marks past actions that were habitual or ongoing, in contrast with the preterite which describes completed actions. The imperfect endings for -er and -ir verbs are -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían; therefore -íais corresponds to "you all used to" or "you all were" depending on the verb.

Formation and examples: With regular -er/-ir verbs, the stem is combined with the endings. Examples include comíais (you all used to eat), bebíais (you all used to drink), and vivíais (you all used to live). The forms for irregular verbs in the imperfect differ from the regular pattern; for instance, ser uses erais in the vosotros form, and ir uses ibais or ibais in some dialects, rather than íais in those forms.

Regional use: The vosotros form, including endings like -íais, is standard in Spain and in parts of the Caribbean and other communities that retain tú/vosotros usage. In most of Latin America, where the vosotros form is uncommon, the corresponding imperfect is formed with ustedes (e.g., ustedes comían, ustedes vivían) rather than -íais forms.

Pronunciation and orthography: The ending -íais carries an acute accent on the i (í) to indicate the correct stress, as is typical of Spanish vowel endings in the imperfect for -er/-ir verbs. The accent helps distinguish the form from other tenses and from the similar-looking endings in other conjugations.

Notes: Íais is not a standalone verb; it is the ending attached to a verb stem. Irregulars in the imperfect may not use -íais in the vosotros form. See also: Spanish verb conjugation, imperfect tense, vosotros, and ser/ir in the imperfect.