attirait

Attirait is the imperfect tense (imparfait) of the French verb attirer, meaning to attract or draw toward. It indicates a past action that was ongoing, habitual, or describes a background state rather than a single completed event. For example, in narrative prose, one might say: L’odeur du pain attirait les clients chaque matin.

In contrast, the passé composé would mark a completed act: L’odeur du pain a attiré les clients ce matin.

Conjugation in the imperfect (third person singular form shown): j’attirais, tu attirais, il attirait, nous attirions, vous attiriez, ils attiraient. The form attirait corresponds to il/elle/on attirait and is typically used when describing past circumstances or repeated past actions.

Usage notes: Attirait is used to describe attractions that occurred over time or repeatedly in the past. It is common in descriptive writing, narration, and reports of past events. It is not used for a single, finished action, which would usually be expressed with the passé composé (or, in formal narrative, the passé simple).

Related forms: The base verb attirer means to attract. The present participle is attirant, and the noun attirer is the verb form itself; other tenses and moods (e.g., attirerait in the conditional) are distinct from this imperfect form.