habíamos

"Habíamos" is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb "haber." This auxiliary verb is crucial for forming compound tenses, particularly the pluperfect (past perfect) tense. When "habíamos" is used, it indicates an action that had been completed before another past action or a specific point in time in the past.

For example, in the sentence "Nosotros habíamos comido cuando llamaste," "habíamos comido" translates to "we had eaten." The action of eating was completed before the action of calling. The imperfect tense aspect of "habíamos" also suggests a background or ongoing situation in the past, rather than a single, completed event that the pluperfect tense usually implies in English.

The verb "haber" also functions as an impersonal verb in the third-person singular form "hay" (there is/are) and its past tense forms like "había" (there was/were). However, "habíamos" specifically refers to the action performed by "we." Understanding its role as an auxiliary verb is key to correctly constructing past perfect tenses in Spanish and conveying the precise timing of events in narrative contexts. It is a fundamental component of Spanish grammar for expressing past actions relative to other past events.