empêchaient

"Empêchaient" is the imperfect indicative plural form of the French verb "empêcher." The verb "empêcher" generally translates to "to prevent," "to stop," "to hinder," or "to obstruct" in English. As an imperfect tense, "empêchaient" describes ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or states that were true in the past but are no longer necessarily so.

When used in a sentence, "empêchaient" would refer to multiple subjects performing the action of preventing or hindering. For instance, a sentence like "Les obstacles empêchaient leur progression" would translate to "The obstacles were preventing their progress" or "The obstacles prevented their progress." The imperfect tense here suggests that the hindering was continuous or a recurring situation during the past event being described. It implies a background action or a state of affairs in the past, rather than a single completed event. The subject of the verb could be people, objects, circumstances, or anything capable of causing prevention or obstruction.