significabais

Significabais is a form of the Spanish verb significar and represents the second-person plural imperfect indicative. It is used to express that you all used to signify or were in the habit of conveying a meaning in the past. The form is derived from the verb stem signific- plus the imperfect ending for vosotros (-abais).

Morphology and usage details

Significabais is formed from la raíz signific- combined with the imperfect vosotros ending -abais. Like other -ar verbs in the imperfect, it signals a past action that was ongoing or habitual. The construction is most commonly found in Spain, where the vosotros pronoun is standard, and appears in historical texts or dialogues in literature.

Contemporary use and regional variation

In modern Spanish outside of Spain, where ustedes is standard for the second person plural, significabais is less frequent in everyday speech. In those dialects, speakers might render the same meaning with significaban or with ustedes significaban, depending on the context and regional conventions. In formal or literary writing that preserves the vosotros form, significabais may still appear.

Examples

- Antes, vosotros significabais que cada gesto tenía un significado.

- Significabais la importancia de las reglas en la ceremonia.

See also

Conjugation of signos significar; Spanish verb conjugation; Spanish imperfect indicative.