expulsabas

Expulsabas is the second-person singular imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb expulsar, meaning you were expelling or you used to expel. It is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past with the subject tú.

Etymology and form: Expulsar comes from Latin expulsāre, “to drive out.” In Spanish, expulsabas is formed from the stem expuls- plus the imperfect ending -abas for the second person singular. The corresponding forms for other persons are expulsaba, expulsábamos, expulsabais, expulsaban, with expulsaste being the preterite form for tú.

Usage: Expulsabas expresses actions in the past that were not completed at a definite time or that occurred regularly. It contrasts with expulsaste, which marks a specific past event or completed action. In narrative or reported speech, expulsabas can convey habitual behavior or an ongoing situation in the past, for example, “Dijo que expulsabas a los estudiantes sin razón.” The choice between imperfect and preterite affects aspect rather than tense alone.

Examples:

- Tú expulsabas a los intrusos cada noche. (You were expelling the intruders every night.)

- Cuando éramos jóvenes, expulsabas a los pollos por la puerta trasera. (When we were young, you used to expel the chickens through the back door.)

- El reglamento decía que expulsabas a quienes incumplían las normas. (The rules stated that you expelled those who violated the norms.)

See also: expulsar, Spanish verb conjugation, imperfect indicative.

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