cambiabais

Cambiabais is the second-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb cambiar. It corresponds to the English “you all were changing” or “you all used to change,” and is used with the pronoun vosotros, which is common in Spain and some older texts. In modern Latin American Spanish, the vosotros form is often replaced by ustedes, so cambiais would be less common in everyday speech there.

Grammatical notes: The form combines the stem cambi- (from cambiar) with the imperfect ending -abais, which is the standard ending for -ar verbs in the vosotros imperfect tense. The full imperfect paradigm for cambiar with vosotros is cambiabais, and similar patterns occur with other -ar verbs (hablabais, caminabais, etc.).

Regional and stylistic context: Cambiabais is typical in Peninsular Spanish and regional varieties that maintain the vosotros conjugation. It appears in narrative, dialogue, and historical texts, as well as in language teaching materials that present traditional Spanish conjugation. In contemporary writing aimed at broad Latin American audiences, vosotros forms (and hence cambiabais) may be avoided in favor of ustedes forms (ustedes cambiaban, ustedes cambiaban). However, cambiabais remains a valid and widely understood form for readers familiar with the vosotros paradigm.

Example: Cuando llegasteis, ya cambiabais de planes. This sentence illustrates the imperfect aspect in a plural vosotros context, signaling ongoing or repeated action in the past. Understanding cambiabais helps illuminate Spanish tense and mood system, especially the distinction between imperfect and other past tenses.