Adelantábamos

Adelantábamos is the first‑person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb adelantarse, which itself comes from adelant‑ “to advance” and the reflexive suffix ‑se. The verb can be used in both transitive and reflexive contexts. In its transitive use, adelantábamos means “we were advancing” or “we were moving forward.” In its reflexive usage, adelantarse denotes “to get ahead” or “to get ahead of something or someone.” The main senses are: to move ahead of a position, to arrive earlier, or to bring something to an earlier stage.

Grammatically, adelantábamos is formed from the stem adelant‑ and the imperfect ending ‑ábamos, the same as for other first‑person plural imperfect forms. It is used to describe an ongoing action in the past, often in contrast with a present state or with another past action. Examples: “Mientras la lluvia cayó, nosotros adelantábamos la partida” (While the rain fell, we were advancing the game). “Ayer, el tren adelantábamos a la hora estimada” (Yesterday, the train ran ahead of the estimated time).

In literary Spanish, the form can appear in narratives to depict continuous movement or progress over time. In modern usage, it is often interchangeable with the present perfect or past simple depending on context, but the imperfect nuance stresses continuity rather than completion. This form is conjugated as part of the regular -ar verb class, following the pattern of simple‑past participles such as “hablábamos” or “comprábamos.”