mostrabas

Mostrabas is a form of the Spanish verb mostrar. It is the imperfect indicative tense for the second person singular (tú mostrabas), used to describe past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or serving as background in a narrative.

Etymology and meaning: Mostrar comes from Latin monstrāre, meaning to show or demonstrate. The form mostrabas preserves the root meaning in a past-tense, second-person context, indicating what you used to show or were showing.

Grammatical notes: In the imperfect tense of -ar verbs, the endings are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Therefore, tú mostrabas corresponds to "you were showing" or "you used to show." This contrasts with the preterite form mostraste, which refers to a completed past action.

Usage: Mostrabas is commonly used in storytelling, descriptions of past routines, or explanations of past behavior. It often sets the scene or describes what someone habitually did before a certain point in time. When used with object pronouns, it expresses what was being shown.

Examples:

- Cuando era niño, me mostrabas tus dibujos cada tarde. (When I was a child, you used to show me your drawings every afternoon.)

- Antes de la reunión, me mostrabas varias opciones para escoger. (Before the meeting, you were showing me several options to choose from.)

See also: Mostrar, Spanish verb conjugation, Imperfect indicative.