forneciam

Forneciam is a Portuguese verb form, specifically the imperfect indicative conjugation of the verb fornecer. It corresponds to a past action that was ongoing or habitual, roughly translated as “they were providing” or “they provided” in English. The form appears in narratives, reports, and any text describing past provision or supply over a period of time.

Morphology and usage: Forneciam is the third-person plural, imperfect tense of fornecer, meaning the subject (they) was continually or repeatedly supplying something in the past. In full conjugation, the imperfect indicative of fornecer includes eu fornecia, tu fornecias, ele fornecia, nós fornecíamos, vós fornecíeis, eles forneciam. Unlike the present subjunctive forneçam, or the aorist-like simples forneciam depending on dialect, forneciam clearly marks a past, ongoing sense.

Examples: Eles forneciam água aos trabalhadores durante o verão. Quando houve a necessidade, eles forneciam materiais de construção sem atraso. In modern prose, forneciam can also convey habitual past behavior in reports or historical accounts.

Etymology and relation: The verb fornecer is a Romance-language verb meaning to supply or furnish. It is related to cognates in other Romance languages (fornecer-like forms such as French fournir) and traces its development through Latin and Old French into Portuguese.

See also: fornecer (infinitive) and related supply verbs in Portuguese.