dependías

Dependías is the second-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb depender, meaning that you used to depend or you were dependent. The imperfect tense describes past actions or conditions that were habitual, repeated, or ongoing in the past, rather than a specific completed moment.

Etymology and forms: depender comes from the Latin dependere. In the imperfect indicative, the verb forms include dependía, dependías, dependía, dependíamos, dependíais, dependían. Like other -er verbs, depender follows regular conjugation patterns in this tense, with the characteristic accents on the stressed syllables, which helps distinguish tense and subject.

Usage: dependías is used to describe past situations of reliance or need that recurred over time or persisted for a period. It frequently appears in narratives, descriptions of childhood or earlier periods, and in conditional or hypothetical contexts when referring to what someone generally relied on. It can be accompanied by time markers such as “cuando era joven,” “en aquella época,” or “a menudo.”

Examples:

- Cuando eras niño, dependías de tus padres para tomar muchas decisiones.

- En ese proyecto, dependías de tus aliados para avanzar cada semana.

Related forms: other tenses and moods of depender include dependo (presente), dependí (pretérito perfecto simple), dependía (él/ella/Ud. imperfect), y dependíamos (nosotros), among others. The noun dependiente (dependent person) and la dependencia (dependence) are related terms.

See also: depender, dependiente, dependencia, conjugación española, gramática de los tiempos verbales.