poníais

Poníais is the segunda persona del plural in the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb poner. It is used to address vosotros, the familiar plural “you” in Spain, to describe past actions that were habitual or ongoing, without indicating their completion.

In the imperfect tense, poníais follows the regular pattern of -er verbs for vosotros, and is accompanied by the stem pon-: ponía, ponías, ponía, poníamos, poníais, ponían. This form contrasts with other regional varieties where the vosotros form is not used; in much of Latin America, the corresponding past would be ustedes ponían or, in informal speech, ustedes ponían, depending on the region. The imperfect tense generally translates to “you were putting” or “you used to put.”

Usage notes: Poníais appears mainly in Spain and in writings that use the vos­otros form. It can appear in narration, dialogue, or descriptions of routines in the past. It is not appropriate for the second-person plural subjunctive, which uses different forms such as pusierais, not poníais.

Examples: “Cuando llegaste, poníais la mesa.” (When you all arrived, you were putting the table.) “Antes de la lluvia, poníais flores en el jardín.” (Before the rain, you all used to put flowers in the garden.)

See also: poner, imperfect tense, vosotros, Spanish verb conjugation, regional varieties of Spanish.