molestaste

Molestaste is a verb form used in Italian and Spanish, but with different grammatical functions in each language. In Italian, molestaste is the passato remoto (the simple past tense used mainly in literary writing) of the verb molestare for the second-person plural subject, meaning “you all bothered” or “you all harassed.” In everyday Italian, speakers typically use compound tenses such as avete molestato or avete molestato to express the same idea.

In Italian, the related verb molestare means to disturb, annoy, or harass, and can carry neutral or stronger connotations depending on context. The passato remoto form molestaste is principally found in historical or fictional narration, rather than in daily speech. For contrast, the present indicative forms are molesti (tu), molestiamo (noi), molestate (voi), and so on, while the passato remoto for voi is molestaste, and for loro is molestarono.

The etymology traces molestare to Latin molestare, from molestus meaning troublesome or annoying, which is related to similar roots in other Romance languages. In Spanish, the same spelling molestaste exists as the second-person singular preterite form of molestar, meaning “you bothered,” but its tense and usage differ from the Italian counterpart.

In English, the closest translation of the Italian molestaste depends on context and tense, but it generally corresponds to “you all bothered” or “you harassed” when referring to actions in a narrative past. The term can also appear in discussions of harassment or disturbing conduct, where precise legal or ethical distinctions are important.