indiquen

Indiquen is a conjugated form of the Spanish verb indicar. In contemporary usage, it functions as the present subjunctive form for the second-person plural ustedes (and, in many dialects, the formal command form for ustedes) and as the affirmative imperative when addressing a group. It is used to request that multiple people indicate or point out something, either within clauses that require subjunctive mood or as a direct command.

Morphology and spelling are tied to Spanish orthography. The stem ind- becomes indic- in many subjunctive forms, and the sequence qu before e is written as qu to preserve the hard /k/ sound, yielding indi-quen in this form. Other present-subjunctive forms of indicar include indique (yo, él), indiques (tú), indiquemos (nosotros), indiquéis (vosotros), and indiquen (ustedes).

Typical contexts include indirect clauses, recommendations, or instructions where the speaker asks a group to provide information or directions. For example: Es necesario que ustedes indiquen la ruta. Indiquen, por favor, dónde está la estación. The form is polyfunctional: it appears in both subjunctive-dependent clauses and as a direct command to a group.

Etymology traces to indicar, from Latin indicare, meaning to point out or show. The present-subjunctive form indIquen preserves the root and orthographic rule that keeps the /k/ sound before -e. Related forms align with the broader paradigm of indicar in Spanish conjugation.