manteníais

Manteníais is a verb form from mantener. It is the segunda persona del plural in the imperfect indicative, corresponding to "you all were maintaining" or "you all used to maintain" in English. This form is characteristic of the vosotros conjugation and is most common in Spain. In many other Spanish-speaking regions, the equivalent imperfect is expressed with ustedes in the third person plural, as in ustedes mantenían.

Usage and meaning: The imperfect tense describes past actions that were habitual or ongoing, or sets a background scene. With mantener, manteneríais can refer to repeatedly keeping up, supporting, or sustaining something in the past, whether physical, financial, or abstract. For example, Manteníais la casa en buen estado means you all kept the house in good condition; Manteníais una relación cordial con los vecinos describes maintaining a cordial relationship over time.

Grammatical notes: Manteníais is the vosotros form and bears an accent on the í. It should not be confused with the present tense form mantenéis or with forms from the imperfect subjunctive, which have different stems such as mantuvierais or mantuvieseis in standard usage. The use of manteníais thus signals a past, habitual, or ongoing action specific to the vosotros subject.

Related forms: The present indicative is mantenéis (you all maintain). The present subjunctive is mantengáis (that you all maintain). The imperfect tense of mantener for other subjects follows standard -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían endings.