Étirions

Étirions is a French verb form that appears as the first-person plural of étirer in the imperfect. The spelling is the same for two distinct grammatical contexts: the imperfect indicative (nous étirions) and the present subjunctive (que nous étirions). The meaning depends on the mood and tense being expressed, even though the written form is identical in both cases.

Morphology and usage: Étirer is a regular -er verb, so its nous form in the imperfect indicative uses the ending -ions: étirions. The present subjunctive also uses the -ions ending for nous, yielding étirions. In practice, the form can convey a past action (we stretched, we were stretching) or a hypothetical or subordinate action (that we stretch, in contexts requiring the subjunctive). Context and accompanying verbs or conjunctions determine the intended meaning.

Examples:

- Nous étirions les bras après la séance. (We stretched / We were stretching our arms after the session.)

- Il faut que nous étirions les muscles avant l’exercice. (We must stretch our muscles before the exercise.)

- Si nous étirions le temps, nous pourrions profiter davantage. (If we stretched time, we could enjoy more.)

Notes:

As with many French verb forms, étirions can be ambiguous in isolation because the same spelling represents multiple grammatical moods and tenses. In everyday speech, the imperfect indicative is more common, while the present subjunctive usage appears mainly in formal writing or literary contexts. The base verb étirer refers to extending or widening in a physical sense and can be used metaphorically to describe prolonging actions or durations.