Achetait

Achetait is the third-person singular form of the French verb acheter (to buy) in the imperfect indicative tense. It translates to he was buying or he used to buy, depending on the context, and is used to describe past actions that were ongoing or repeated.

Formation and usage: In the imperfect, acheter forms a regular set of endings with the stem achet-. The forms are j’achetais, tu achetais, il achetait, nous achetions, vous achetiez, ils achetaient. The form achetait specifically indicates a past ongoing or habitual action for a masculine singular subject. Other tenses of acheter show different patterns (for example, present tense j’achète, tu achètes, il achète), but the imperfect uses the achet- stem consistently.

Examples: Il achetait des légumes au marché chaque semaine. Elle achetait parfois des souvenirs lors de ses voyages. In narrative writing, l’imparfait like achetait is often used to set scene or describe repeated past activities, as in Il achetait des fleurs et les offrait à sa maîtresse.

Relation to etymology and grammar: Achetait belongs to the class of irregular verbs in the sense that acheter itself has stem changes in some tenses (notably in the present). In the imperfect, however, the endings are regular and combine with the stem achet-. This form is commonly found in both spoken and written French and is an example of how past actions are described with the imperfect tense.