Expresaste

Expresaste is the second-person singular simple past (pretérito indefinido) form of the Spanish verb expresar, meaning “to express.” It corresponds to the pronoun tú with the preterite tense and translates as “you expressed” in English. The verb expresar is regular in its preterite conjugation: expresé, expresaste, expresó, expresamos, expresasteis, expresaron. The form expresaste is used in informal discourse to describe a completed act of expressing something in the past. In contrast, the equivalent formal second-person singular in many contexts is usted, which uses the third-person singular form (expresó).

Usage and nuance: Expresaste is used to recount past expressions of thoughts, feelings, opinions, or information. It appears in narrative past passages, dialogues, or direct address. The action is treated as completed at a definite time in the past, and the context often specifies what was expressed. It can accompany direct objects or complement clauses, such as “expresaste tu opinión” or “expresaste lo que pensabas.”

Regional variation: In regions that use vosotros, the corresponding form is expresasteis. In places where tú is the predominant informal second person, expresaste is common in everyday speech. The formal usted form would be expresó for the past tense, not expresaste, and is used with third-person verb forms.

Examples:

- Ayer expresaste tus ideas con claridad en la reunión.

- No expresaste tus verdaderos sentimientos.

- ¿Expresaste correctamente lo que pensabas?

Related forms: The imperfect tense (expresabas) describes habitual or ongoing past expression, while other persons and numbers use their respective preterite forms. Expresar also yields noun forms like expresión.