ingéraient

Ingéraient is the imperfect indicative form of the French verb ingérer, used with ils/elles as the subject. It denotes a past, ongoing action of ingesting or swallowing, for example describing how a group was consuming substances over a period of time.

Etymology and sense: ingérer comes from the noun ingestion and ultimately from Latin roots related to bringing in or swallowing. The core sense covers taking in substances through the mouth and, metaphorically, absorbing or assimilating them.

Usage notes: ingérer is a transitive verb, typically followed by a direct object such as aliments, médicaments, boissons, or substances being consumed. Examples include: ils ingéraient des aliments rapidement, ils ingéraient des pilules sous supervision. The verb also has a reflexive form s’ingérer, which means to meddle or to interfere in someone else’s affairs, a distinct sense from the non-reflexive ingestion sense.

Grammatical form: the form ingéraient corresponds to the third-person plural imperfect, with the pronunciation carrying the acute accent on the é in the stem ingér-: ingéraient. Other imperfect forms are ingérais, ingérais, ingérait, ingérions, ingériez, ingéraient. The imperfect is used to describe habitual or progressive past actions, often in narrative or descriptive contexts.

See also: ingestion (the noun), s’ingérer (to meddle or interfere).