fraudábamos

Fraudábamos is a verb form in Spanish that corresponds to the imperfect indicative of fraudar, meaning “we were defrauding” or “we used to defraud.” It is used to describe ongoing or repeated acts of deception carried out in the past by a group or collective subject.

Etymology and grammar: Fraudar comes from Latin fraus, fraudis, meaning deceit or fraud, and is a regular -ar verb in Spanish. The imperfect indicative endings for -ar verbs are -aba, -abas, -aba, -ábamos, -abais, -aban, so fraudábamos is the nosotros form in the imperfect.

Usage: Fraudábamos appears in narrative, historical, or analytical texts to refer to descriptions of wrongdoing in the past. It carries negative connotations due to its association with deception and illegal activity. In contemporary formal writing, it tends to be used when recounting past events rather than in general statements about a person or group’s behavior.

Examples: “Durante ese periodo, fraudábamos a clientes con facturas falsas.” English: “During that period, we defrauded customers with false invoices.” “En la novela, los protagonistas admiten que fraudábamos el sistema para obtener beneficios ilegítimos.” English: “In the novel, the protagonists admit that we were defrauding the system to obtain illegitimate benefits.”

See also: fraudar; fraude; imperfect indicative.