alejaban

Alejaban is a conjugated form of the Spanish verb alejar, specifically the imperfect indicative, third-person plural. It indicates that in the past a group of subjects (ellos, ellas, or ustedes in many dialects) were performing the action of moving something away or creating a distance, either physically or figuratively. The form is commonly used to describe habitual or ongoing past actions.

In general usage, alejar can be transitive, as in moving an object away from a reference point, or intransitive when used with reflexive forms such as alejarse, which means to distance oneself. The infinitive form is alejar, the gerund is alejando, and the past participle is alejado. The imperfect form alejaban allows speakers to convey a sense of continuity or repetition in the past, without specifying a completed endpoint.

Examples:

- Ellos alejaban las sillas de la mesa para limpiar la habitación.

- La crisis económica alejaba a los inversores extranjeros.

Pronunciation is typically rendered as a-le-HAR, with the final r pronounced as a soft tap in standard Spanish. Regional variations may affect the exact consonant quality, but the general pronunciation remains close to a-le-HAR.

Notes:

Alejaban can be used with a direct object (alejar a alguien o algo), in which case it describes actively moving that person or thing to a farther position. It can also appear in compound tenses as part of broader narration about past distancing actions.