ayudábamos

Ayudábamos is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb "ayudar," which means "to help." This verb conjugation is used to describe an action of helping that was ongoing or habitual in the past, from the perspective of a group including the speaker.

The imperfect tense in Spanish serves several functions, and "ayudábamos" exemplifies these. It can indicate a continuous or repeated action in the past without a specific end point, such as "Nosotros ayudábamos a nuestros vecinos con las compras todos los domingos" (We used to help our neighbors with the shopping every Sunday). It can also describe a state or condition in the past, or set the scene for another past event. For instance, "Mientras ayudábamos a los niños con su tarea, sonó el teléfono" (While we were helping the children with their homework, the phone rang).

The structure of "ayudábamos" follows the standard conjugation pattern for regular -ar verbs in the imperfect tense. The infinitive "ayudar" is taken, and the ending "-ar" is replaced with "-ábamos" for the first-person plural (nosotros/nosotras). This form is consistent across all regular -ar verbs in this tense and person. Understanding "ayudábamos" is key to accurately conveying past actions involving collective assistance in Spanish.