inscrivaient

Inscrivaient is the third person plural imperfect indicative form of the French verb inscrire. It expresses an ongoing or repeated action in the past, such as a group of people were enrolling, registering, or inscribing over a period of time.

Morphology and related forms: the imperfect stem for inscrire is inscriv-, to which the imperfect endings are added: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus, j’inscrivais, tu inscrivais, il inscrivait, nous inscrivions, vous inscriviez, they inscrivaient. The verb inscribe has the past participle inscrit and is used in various tenses with different nuances. The present tense forms of inscrire (e.g., ils inscrivent) are irregular in spelling, while the imperfect maintains a regular pattern with the inscritv- stem.

etymology and meaning: inscrire comes from the Latin inscribere (in- “in, on” + scribere “to write”). In French, inscrire covers meanings such as to write down or enter on a list, to enroll in a course or registry, to sign up, or to inscribe on a surface or monument.

Usage examples:

- Ils inscrivaient leurs noms sur la liste des participants.

- Dans le passé, les familles inscrivaient souvent les enfants à l’école chaque année, et plusieurs pages du registre les témoignaient.

In summary, inscrivaient is a grammatical form used to describe past, ongoing action by a plural subject related to registering, enrolling, or inscribing, depending on the context of the sentence.