escuchaban

Escuchaban is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb escuchar, used with the subject pronouns ellos, ellas, or ustedes. The infinitive escuchar means to listen, to listen with attention, or to hear in a mindful sense. In the imperfect tense, escuchar is a regular -ar verb, so the endings are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban. Therefore, escuchaban corresponds to the third-person plural form: they listened or you all listened in contexts using ustedes.

Etymology: escuchar originates from Latin auscultare, meaning to listen or to attend to sounds, a root that also yields the medical term auscultation in English and Spanish (auscultar). The form escuchaban is primarily found in past narration, describing ongoing or repeated listening in the past.

Usage: The imperfect tense communicates habitual actions in the past, descriptions, or background actions. It can indicate simultaneous actions in a narrative (mientras escuchaban) or a respectful past reference. Distinct from oír, which emphasizes hearing with less active attention, escuchar implies listening with intent.

Examples: Ellos escuchaban música cada tarde. They listened to music every afternoon. Cuando llegué, todos escuchaban las instrucciones. When I arrived, everyone was listening to the instructions. A related form, escuchan, is present tense: they listen; escucharán is future; escuchen is the present subjunctive.