Dirigíais

Dirigíais is the second-person plural form of dirigir in the pretérito imperfecto de indicativo (imperfect indicative) in Spanish. It corresponds to “you all directed” or “you all were directing” in English and is used with the pronoun vosotros, primarily in Spain and some regional varieties.

The form is regular for the -ir verb family in the imperfect: stem dirigi- plus the endings -áis, giving dirigíais. The accent on í marks the standard stressed syllable for the imperfect endings. This form denotes ongoing, habitual, or background past actions, rather than a completed past action.

Dirigíais is distinct from the imperfect subjunctive forms, which would be dirigierais or dirigieseis in standard Spanish, depending on regional preference. In many Latin American varieties that do not use vosotros, the corresponding imperfect with ustedes is dirigían.

Etymologically, dirigir comes from the Latin dirigere, meaning to guide or to lead, and its modern conjugation follows regular patterns for -ir verbs in the imperfect tense.

Examples:

- Aquel año, vosotros dirigíais la empresa con mano firme.

- Antes de la fusión, dirigíais el departamento con autoridad.

Notes:

- The use of vosotros and its imperfect forms like dirigíais is characteristic of Spain and some regions; in many other Spanish-speaking areas, ustedes or other forms replace the vosotros conjugations, yielding dirigían in the imperfect with ustedes.