encontrábamos

Encontrábamos is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb encontrar. This verb translates to "to find" or "to meet" in English. The imperfect tense in Spanish is used to describe ongoing, habitual, or repeated actions in the past, as well as to set the scene or describe conditions in the past. Therefore, "encontrábamos" specifically means "we used to find," "we were finding," "we would find," or "we used to meet," "we were meeting," "we would meet."

The imperfect tense is chosen over the preterite tense (encontramos) when the action was not a single, completed event but rather a background or continuous state in the past. For instance, "Cuando éramos niños, encontrábamos tesoros en el bosque" translates to "When we were children, we used to find treasures in the forest," indicating a habitual action. Conversely, "Encontramos la llave ayer" (preterite) would mean "We found the key yesterday," referring to a single, completed action. The nuance of "encontrábamos" lies in its depiction of past circumstances or ongoing discoveries rather than specific, concluded events. It can also be used to describe what was happening at a particular moment in the past that was interrupted.