describan

Describan is a Spanish verb form: it is the present subjunctive conjugation of describir for the third-person plural, corresponding to ustedes, ellos, and ellas. In everyday speech, it is commonly used to express wishes, doubts, or necessities in subordinate clauses, and it also serves as a formal imperative in the ustedes form.

The verb describir comes from Latin describere, meaning to describe or to write down in detail. In modern Spanish, describir is a regular -ir verb, and its present subjunctive forms follow the standard pattern for this conjugation. The present subjunctive forms are: yo describa, tú describas, él/ella/usted describa, nosotros describamos, vosotros describáis, and ellos/ellas/ustedes describan.

In usage, describan appears in contexts such as: “Espero que describan los hechos con precisión,” where the speaker expresses a wish or expectation, and “Describan lo que ocurrió,” which functions as a command directed at ustedes. The form is common in formal writing, legal or academic discourse, and in any situation requiring a subjunctive mood addressed to a plural subject.

Notes and distinctions: describan is not used as an affirmative informal tú command (that would be “describe”). It also does not occur in the indicative mood; for statements about describing in the present tense, other forms of describir are used (describo, describes, describe, describimos, describís, describen). As a result, describan is primarily a subjunctive or formal plural imperative form.