cueillait

Cueillait is the third-person singular imperfect indicative form of the French verb cueillir, which means to pick, gather, or harvest. The form is used to describe an action in the past that was ongoing, repeated, or part of a setting, rather than a single completed act.

In the imperfect, cueillir follows the regular -ir verb pattern with the stem cueill-. The full conjugation in the imperfect is: je cueillais, tu cueillais, il/elle/on cueillait, nous cueillions, vous cueilliez, ils/elles cueillaient. Therefore cueillait corresponds to "he/she/one was picking" or "he/she/one used to pick" in context.

Usage: cueillait is common in narrative and descriptive text, especially with fruits, flowers, or other gathered items, e.g., "Il cueillait des pommes dans le verger" (he was picking apples in the orchard). The verb cueillir is often used with tangible objects but can also be metaphorical, as in "cueillir les fruits du travail" (to reap the fruits of one's labor). The imperfect form contrasts with the present form "il cueille" and with past composite forms such as "il a cueilli."

See also: cueillir, and the other tenses and forms of the verb.