cantaban

Cantaban is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb cantar, used with third-person plural subjects such as ellos, ellas, or ustedes. The imperfect tense expresses past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or background events rather than completed actions.

Usage and meaning: Cantaban describes actions in progress in the past or repeated actions over a period of time. It is commonly used to set a scene, describe routines, or show simultaneous actions. It contrasts with the preterite, which denotes completed past actions. For example, “Los pájaros cantaban al amanecer” describes a habitual or ongoing past activity, while “cantaron ayer” would indicate a completed past event.

Conjugation: Cantaban follows the regular imperfect endings for -ar verbs: -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. For cantar, the full set in the imperfect includes cantaba, cantabas, cantaba, cantábamos, cantabais, cantaban.

Examples:

- “Ellos cantaban mientras caminaban por la playa.”

- “Antes, cantaban en la orquesta cada verano.”

- “Los niños cantaban canciones tradicionales todas las tardes.”

Etymology and related forms: Cantaban derives from cantar, itself from Latin cantare. Related forms include cantaba (first/third-person singular), cantabais (vosotros), and the broader imperfect tense family used to describe past, non-terminating, or habitual actions.

Notes: Cantaban is primarily a grammatical form. It is not typically the name of a person, place, or organization, though in fictional or poetic contexts it may appear in prose as part of dialogue or narration. Related topics include the verb cantar, the imperfect tense, and the broader family of past tenses in Spanish.