Levantabas

Levantabas is the second person singular imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb levantar. Levantar is a regular -ar verb meaning to lift, raise, or to elevate something. In its reflexive form, levantarse means to get up or to rise. The imperfect tense, in contrast with the preterite, expresses past actions that were habitual or ongoing, or serves as background description during narration.

The imperfect conjugation for -ar verbs follows a regular pattern, and levantabas corresponds to tú. The full paradigm is: yo levantaba, tú levantabas, él/ella levantaba, nosotros levantábamos, vosotros levantabais, ellos levantaban. In many dialects, including those using voseo, the form can appear as levantabas in the tú or vos forms depending on regional conjugation, with vos often paired with levantabás in some regions for the present tense, while the imperfect remains levantabas in vos form in several dialects.

Uses and nuance: levantabas describes habitual past actions, ongoing processes at a past time, or a setting that frames another action in the past. It is common with phrases like cuando, mientras, o antes, to indicate that the action was in progress or repeated. Examples: “Cuando trabajabas en la tienda, levantabas cajas pesadas todos los días.” “Tú levantabas la mano para preguntar.” These constructions emphasize the routine or background nature of the action rather than its completion.

Common collocations include levantar objetos (to lift objects), levantar la voz (to raise one’s voice), and levantar peso (to lift weights). The preterite levantaste or levantaría would indicate a completed action in the past, contrasting with levantabas. levantabas, therefore, marks past context rather than a single finished moment.