Distinguisteis

Distinguisteis is the second-person plural preterite indicative form of the Spanish verb distinguir, meaning “you all distinguished.” It marks a completed action in the past performed by a group addressed as vosotros. The form is standard in Spain and other regions where vosotros is used; in most Latin American dialects, speakers typically use vosotros forms less often and rely on ustedes or the tú/ustedes forms of preterite instead.

Usage notes:

- Distinguir means to distinguish or differentiate, often in the sense of recognizing differences between things, ideas, or phenomena.

- The vosotros preterite distinguishes in terms of tense and person, while in Latin American varieties the corresponding past with ustedes is usually distinguished as distingieron (or distinguieron in some regions), depending on the pronoun used.

- Distinguisteis appears in narratives or dialogue that employ the familiar plural “you all,” especially in Spain.

Conjugation (preterite, indicative, for reference):

yo distinguí, tú distinguiste, él distinguió, nosotros distinguimos, vosotros distinguisteis, ellos distinguieron (distinguieron is also heard in some varieties as the ellos/ustedes form).

Etymology:

The verb comes from Latin distinguere, with the English cognate “distinguish,” formed from dis- (apart) + tenere (to hold) in sense of setting apart or differentiating.

See also:

- Distinguir, the base verb

- Spanish verb conjugation, especially the preterite of -ir/-er verbs with stem changes

Distinguisteis thus serves as a concise example of a regular preterite form used with the vosotros pronoun in appropriate dialects.