étions

Étions is the first-person plural form of the French verb être in the imperfect tense, meaning "we were." It is used to describe past states, conditions, or ongoing situations without emphasizing a specific beginning or end. In French, the imperfect tense provides background information, habitual actions in the past, or descriptions of people and places.

Morphology: Étions is formed from the root of être plus the imperfect ending -ions. Other conjugations of être in the imperfect include étais, étais, était, étions, étiez, étaient. The imperfect contrasts with the passé composé, which expresses completed actions.

Usage: We use étions to set scenes: "Nous étions en retard" (We were late) or "Quand nous étions jeunes, nous aimions voyager." It can also express conditional or hypothetical states in conditional constructions, often with si: "Si nous étions riches, nous achèterions une maison." Note that étions cannot express a completed action; for finished events, the passé composé or plus-que-parfait is preferred.

Etymology and related forms: The form étions derives from the Latin esse via Old French, following the general French pattern of the imperfect with the -ions ending for the first-person plural. Related forms include the other persons of être in the imperfect, the present tense forms, and the broader system of French conjugation.

See also: être; imparfait; conjugation; French grammar.