Defendimos

Defendimos is the first-person plural form of the Spanish verb defender in the preterite tense, meaning “we defended.” It is used to describe actions completed in the past by a group, often in relation to protecting people, objects, ideas, or positions.

Etymology and form: Defender derives from Latin defendere, with the preterite form defendimos built from the stem defend- plus the standard -imos ending for first-person plural in the preterite of -er verbs. In standard usage, defendimos corresponds to other languages’ past-tense forms that express a definite past action carried out by “us.”

Usage and sense: Defendimos can describe physical protection (we defended the fortress), moral or legal advocacy (we defended the rights of the minority), or argumentative defense (we defended our proposal in the meeting). It often appears in narrative recounting, historical accounts, journalism, and everyday conversation. The subject is typically explicit (nosotros) or implied by verb conjugation.

Examples: Defendimos nuestra casa durante la inundación. Defendimos la hipótesis ante el comité. En la historia, se defendieron ideas contrarias a la corriente dominante.

Notes: Defendimos is a regular preterite form for the verb defender in most dialects of Spanish. Its meaning relies on context, and it may be accompanied by direct objects (defendimos la frontera, defendimos nuestros derechos) or indirect phrases (defendimos a los inocentes).