reíais

Reíais is a Spanish verb form, specifically the second-person plural imperfect indicative of the verb reír, meaning “to laugh.” It is used with the pronoun vosotros and translates to “you all were laughing” or “you all used to laugh” in English, depending on context.

Usage and meaning: The imperfect tense expresses past actions that were habitual or ongoing, rather than completed. Reíais appears in narrative or dialogue in Spain, where the vosotros form is standard. In most Latin American varieties, the vosotros forms are not used; speakers typically use ustedes and the third-person plural imperfect, reían, instead.

Conjugation note: Reíais follows the standard imperfect pattern for vosotros on -er/-ir verbs, which adds the ending -íais to the verb stem. The verb reír itself is irregular in other tenses, but the vosotros imperfect form aligns with the regular vosotros endings.

Etymology: Reír comes from Latin ridēre, meaning “to laugh.” The form reíais developed through the evolution of Spanish from Latin, preserving the voso­tros imperfect ending in this verb.

Examples:

- Cuando éramos niños, vosotros reíais de todo.

- En la fiesta, vosotros reíais sin parar.

Variations: In contexts without the vos­otros form, or in Latin American Spanish, the corresponding past imperfect for ustedes/ellos is reían, or vosotros might be replaced by ustedes in informal writing.