arrêtaient

Arrêtaient is the imperfect (imparfait) third-person plural form of the French verb arrêter. The verb arrêter has two primary senses in French: to stop or halt something, and to arrest someone. In narrative or descriptive past contexts, arrêtaient indicates an ongoing or repeated action in the past, or helps set a scene.

Formation and use: In the imperfect, French verbs form a stem and add endings. For arrêter the stem is arrêt-, and the endings are -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus the forms for the third person plural are arrêtaient. The circumflex on ê is preserved in the stem in this and related forms. Examples include ils arrêtaient, elle arrêtaient, and so on. The verb can describe stopping an action, stopping a process, or stopping people or things, depending on the object. For instance, ils arrêtaient le trafic (they were stopping the traffic) or ils arrêtaient de parler (they were stopping talking / they stopped talking).

Notes on usage and meaning: Arrêter is a transitive verb and may take a direct object when meaning “to stop something” (arrêter le vol, to stop the flight; arrêter un suspect, to arrest a suspect). It can also be used with a preceding de to mean “to stop doing” (arrêter de fumer, to stop smoking). In the imperfect, arrêtaient simply conveys a past action without specifying its completion. English translations depend on context, as arrêtaient can mean “they were stopping,” “they stopped,” or, in a different sense, “they were arresting,” depending on the object and construction.