ajustabas

Ajustabas is the second person singular imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb ajustar. It represents the root ajust- plus the regular imperfect ending -abas, and it corresponds to the English "you were adjusting" or "you used to adjust." As a flexion, ajustabas cannot stand alone as a separate lexical item; it must appear with the subject tú and the appropriate tense to convey past ongoing or habitual action.

Conjugation context and morphology: in the imperfect tense, the full paradigm for ajustar is: yo ajustaba, tú ajustabas, él/ella ajustaba, nosotros ajustábamos, vosotros ajustabais, ellos ajustaban. The form ajustabas is thus regular for -ar verbs in the imperfect. It is common in both spoken and written Spanish, especially in narrative, descriptive passages, or when signaling a continuous action in the past.

Usage notes: ajustabas is used to describe past actions that were ongoing, repeated, or simultaneous with another past event. It can convey a sense of process or routine, rather than a completed action. It contrasts with the preterite form ajustaste, which marks a single, completed adjustment, and with the subjunctive imperfect forms such as ajustaras, used in hypothetical or dependent clauses.

Examples: "Tú ajustabas el tornillo cuando la máquina dejó de vibrar." "Durante la reparación, tú ajustabas las piezas hasta que encajaban." In both cases, ajustabas describes continued activity at a point in the past.