agradecían

Agradecían is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb agradecer, used with third-person plural subjects. The form can express that they were grateful in the past or that they repeatedly or habitually expressed thanks during that period. In narrative, the imperfect conveys ongoing or customary past action rather than a completed moment.

Etymology and meaning: agradecer derives from the Latin expression gratias agere, meaning to render thanks. Through historical development in Romance languages, it acquired the sense of showing gratitude or giving thanks. The imperfect form agradecían corresponds to the same semantic range in the past: ongoing gratitude or repeated thanks.

Conjugation and usage notes: In the imperfect tense, the full paradigm for agradecer includes: yo agradecía, tú agradecías, él/ella/usted agradecía, nosotros agradecíamos, vosotros agradecíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes agradecían. The third-person plural form is agradecían, which can indicate either “they were grateful” or “they thanked.” The verb takes direct objects when expressing gratitude for something (agradecer algo) and can take a recipient with a prepositional phrase (agradecer a alguien) in the sense of thanking someone for something.

Examples:

- Durante las visitas, agradecían las atenciones recibidas. (During the visits, they were grateful for the attentions received.)

- Después de la ayuda recibida, agradecían al equipo por su apoyo. (After the help they received, they thanked the team for their support.)

- Los estudiantes agradecían la paciencia del profesor. (The students were grateful for the teacher’s patience.)

See also: agradecer, gratitud, expresiones de gratitud.