Possédait

Possédait is the imperfect tense form of the French verb posséder, meaning to possess or own. It is the third-person singular form used with il or elle: il possédait, elle possédait. The form appears in narrative and descriptive past contexts to indicate possession in the past.

In the imperfect, the stem is posséd- and the usual imparfait endings are added: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus the full set includes je possédais, tu possédais, il possédait, nous possédions, vous possédiez, ils possédaient. The pronunciation of possédait typically renders the final -ait as a silent ending with the root syllable sounding [pɔ.se.dɛ]. The spelling preserves the accent on é in the stem.

Usage notes: posséder is a regular, transitive verb used to express ownership or possession of objects, property, or abstract possessions. Possédait is common in literature, history, and formal narration when describing past states or repeated past situations, but in everyday speech speakers may opt for avoir plus a noun to convey possession (il avait une voiture).

Etymology: posséder derives from Old French posséder, which in turn comes from Latin possidēre, formed from the root related to potis “able” and the notion of holding or possessing. The imperfect form possédait reflects the regular conjugation pattern of French -ER verbs that have an accented stem in the present tense.