Bailaban

Bailaban is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of bailar, the Spanish verb meaning “to dance.” In this tense, bailaban translates as “they were dancing” or “they used to dance,” and it is used for actions that were ongoing or habitual in the past.

Bailar is a regular -ar verb, so its imperfect endings are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Therefore the forms include bailaba, bailabas, bailábamos, bailabais, bailaban. The form bailaban specifically corresponds to ellos, ellas, or ustedes in the imperfect.

Use of bailaban includes describing past background, setting scenes, or indicating repeated actions without a defined end. For example: “La música sonaba y ellos bailaban en la plaza” (The music was playing and they were dancing in the square). “Cada verano, en la fiesta, bailaban hasta tarde” (Every summer, at the party, they would dance until late).

Difference from bailaron: bailaron is the preterite form meaning a completed past action, often viewed as a single event or a sequence with a defined endpoint, as in “Ayer bailaron hasta la medianoche” (Yesterday they danced until midnight).

Regional and usage notes: in Spain, second-person plural form for past ongoing actions is bailabais; in much of Latin America, the same imperfect form bailaban is used for ustedes as well. Overall, bailaban is a standard, regular imperfect form used across Spanish-speaking regions.