Instruisais

Instruisais is the imperfect indicative form of the French verb instruire, meaning to instruct, educate, or inform. It can correspond to “I was instructing” or “you were instructing” in English, depending on the subject. The form is used with the pronouns je or tu, with j'instruisais used before a vowel.

Morphology and conjugation: instruire forms the imperfect with the stem instruis- plus the standard imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Spelling conventions include j'instruisais for the first-person singular before a vowel. The full imperfect paradigm is: Je instruisais, Tu instruisais, Il instruisait, Nous instruisions, Vous instruisiez, Ils instruisaient.

Usage: In everyday French, instruire means to instruct, educate, or inform someone. In legal or administrative language, instruire can also mean to investigate or to prepare a case (as in instruire une affaire). The imperfect form instruisais expresses ongoing or habitual past action, provides background description, or indicates a past process in progress.

Examples: Quand j'étais enseignant, j'instruisais mes élèves sur les principes de la chimie. Il m’expliquait comment instruire un dossier, et j’instruisais les procédures pas à pas. In legal contexts, on peut dire j’instruisais l’affaire lorsque l’enquête avançait.

Etymology and related forms: Instruire derives from Latin instruere, “to build, arrange, educate.” Related forms include l’instruction (instruction), instruit (past participle), and le domaine de l’instruction in both educational and investigative senses.