elevábamos

Elevábamos is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb elevar, meaning to raise, lift, or elevate. In past narrative, elevábamos indicates an action that was ongoing in the past or repeated over time, roughly translating to “we were lifting” or “we used to lift,” depending on context.

Etymology and form: the verb elevar comes from Latin elevare, from the root lev- meaning to lift or raise. The imperfect endings for -ar verbs yield elevaba, elevabas, elevaba, elevábamos, elevabais, elevaban; in this form the accent falls on the syllable preceding -bamos. The imperfect contrasts with the preterite (elevamos), which marks a completed past action.

Usage: elevábamos is commonly used to describe habitual past activities (e.g., routines, repeated actions), ongoing processes in the past, or background information in storytelling. It can refer to physical lifting, but it also covers raising voices, raising standards, or lifting objects and perspectives, depending on the context. In each case, the imperfect provides a sense of duration or repetition rather than a single completed event.

Examples:

- Durante la sesión, elevábamos las pesas con cuidado. (We were lifting the weights with care.)

- En esa época elevábamos la voz para ser escuchados. (We used to raise our voices to be heard.)

- Cuando trabajábamos juntos, elevábamos las expectativas del equipo. (We were raising/upgrading the team’s expectations.)

See also: elevar, imperfect subjunctive forms (eleváramos, elevásemos), related verbs such as alzar and subir.