laissaient

Laissaient is the imperfect indicative form of the French verb laisser, meaning to leave, to let, or to permit. In English, laissaient is commonly rendered as they were leaving, they used to leave, or they were letting, depending on the context. It is used to describe past actions that were ongoing, repeated, or serving as background in a narrative.

Formation and form: The imperfect endings for -er verbs attach to the stem laiss- in laisser. For ils/elles, the ending is -aient, giving laissaient. The spelling preserves a double s (laiss-) to maintain the soft s sound before the -aient ending, a characteristic feature of certain consonant clusters in French. Other imperfect forms of laisser are je laissais, tu laissais, il/elle/on laissait, nous laissions, vous laissiez.

Usage notes: Laissaient is typically used to situate past events within a broader scene or over a period of time. It can express habitual actions, ongoing states, or actions interrupted by another event. Examples include: Ils laissaient la porte ouverte quand ils sortaient, meaning they were leaving the door open as they went out; Ils ne laissaient pas entrer les visiteurs, meaning they did not let the visitors in. The verb also supports idiomatic expressions built with laisser, such as laisser faire (to let happen) or laisser passer (to let pass).

Etymology: Laisser comes from Old French laisser, from Latin laxāre, related to laxus meaning loose or relaxed. The imperfect laissaient reflects regular French verb conjugation rather than a separate lexical item.

See also: laisser.