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¿Caminabais por el barrio?

¿Caminabais por el barrio?
Did you guys use to walk around the neighborhood?
From Lesson 143:The imperfect tense (-aba)·Spanish (Spain)

Questions & Answers about ¿Caminabais por el barrio?

Why does this sentence use caminabais instead of the past tense caminasteis?
Caminabais is in the imperfect tense. We use the imperfect to talk about repeated or habitual actions in the past, which is why it translates to "did you use to walk." If you used the preterite tense caminasteis, it would refer to a specific, one-time completed action, like "Did you walk around the neighborhood (yesterday)?"
Who is the subject of caminabais?
The ending -abais tells us the hidden subject is vosotros (you all / you guys), which is the informal plural "you" used in Spain. For regular -ar verbs in the imperfect tense, the vosotros ending is always -abais.
Why do we use por here instead of para?
When talking about movement, por is used to mean "through," "around," or "along" a place. So, por el barrio means "around the neighborhood." If you used para, it would indicate a destination, making para el barrio mean "toward the neighborhood."
Could this sentence also mean "Were you guys walking around the neighborhood?"
Yes! The imperfect tense is also used to describe ongoing background actions in the past. Depending on the context of the conversation, caminabais can mean "you guys used to walk" or "you guys were walking."

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