Hacían

Hacían is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb hacer for the third-person plural subject (ellos/ellas) or, in many dialects, with ustedes. It translates to “they were doing” or “they used to do,” and can also be used to describe habitual or ongoing past actions.

Formation and usage. In the imperfect, hacer takes the endings -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían, with the stress marked on the i of the -ía/-ían forms. The stem remains hac-, so hacían literally means “they were doing” or “they used to do.” This form is used to describe past routines, background actions, or states that continued for a period in the past.

Examples.

- Cuando éramos niños, mis abuelos hacían pan todas las mañanas.

- Ellos hacían la tarea cuando sonó la campana.

- Antes, hacían mucho ruido.

Notes. Hacían is contrasted with the preterite hacieron (or hicieron), which expresses a completed action in the past rather than a habitual or background activity. It is also distinct from the present hacen (they do) and the subjunctive hagan. In addition, in some contexts, ustedes can be the subject of hacían in Latin American usage, while in Spain the vosotros form would be hacíais for the imperfect.

Related usage. With time expressions such as hace + duration, the imperfect can express how long something had been going on in the past, as in hacía dos años que estudiaba español. The form also appears in indirect discourse to report actions previously described.