Hesitávamos

Hesitávamos is the first person plural imperfect indicative form of the Portuguese verb hesitar, meaning to hesitate or to be hesitant. It describes a past, ongoing, or habitual action of hesitation, often used in narrative to set a scene of doubt rather than to mark a completed decision.

Etymology: Hesitar comes from Latin haesitare, from haesus (past participle of haerere) meaning to cling or hesitate; it was borrowed into Portuguese in the medieval period and became a standard verb in modern usage.

Conjugation and usage: As a regular -ar verb, its imperfect forms include eu hesitava, tu hesitavas, ele/ela hesitava, nós hesitávamos, vós hesitáveis, eles/elas hesitavam. The form hesitávamos corresponds to “we were hesitating” or “we used to hesitate.” In everyday speech, the vós form is rare; Brazilian Portuguese relies on the eu/ele/eles forms with nós and vocês. The imperfect tense signals that the hesitation was in progress or repeated in the past, often in relation to another past action.

Examples: "Nós hesitávamos diante da decisão." "Enquanto pensávamos, hesitávamos entre aceitar e recusar." The construction can appear before subordinate clauses or prepositional phrases, as in "hesitávamos sobre o caminho a seguir" or "hesitávamos entre as opções."

See also: hesitar, indecisão, tempo verbal imperfeito.