Establecíais

Establecíais is the second-person plural form of the verb establecer in the imperfect indicative, used with the pronoun vosotros. It corresponds to "you all were establishing" or "you all established (in the past)" depending on context, and represents the habitual or ongoing past action.

Morphology and usage notes: The form is built from the stem establec- plus the regular imperfect endings for -er verbs, namely -íais. The accent on the í marks the syllable division and maintains the historic spelling that preserves the root conjunto with the ending. This vosotros form is characteristic of Peninsular Spanish and is not commonly used in Latin American varieties, where ustedes would typically express the imperfect as establecían.

Etymology and relation to other forms: Establecer comes from a root meaning “to establish” and historically featured a settled stem estal- in various tenses and moods. In the imperfect, establecíais is the standard vosotros form, while ustedes/ellos form in the imperfect is establecían. The form establecíais appears mainly in formal, literary, or historical texts and in regions or contexts that retain the vosotros paradigm.

Examples:

- Años atrás, vosotros establecíais las reglas del juego y todos las acatabais.

- Durante la década, establecíais un sistema de cooperación que sirvió de base para futuras normas.

See also: establecer, pretérito imperfecto de indicativo, vosotros (grammatical person).

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