nourrissions

Nourrissions is a conjugated form of the French verb nourrir, used in the imperfect tense with the subject nous. The phrase nous nourrissions translates to “we were feeding” or “we used to feed.” The imperfect tense describes past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or set a scene in the past.

Grammatical notes: The stem is nourriss-, and the ending for the nous form is -ions, yielding the two-word construction nous nourrissions in standard writing. In regular text, the form is never written as a single word without the subject pronoun; the correct form is always two words: nous nourrissions. As with other imperfect forms, this is distinct from the present tense nous nourrissons (we nourish), which is a separate conjugation and also written as two words.

Ambiguity can arise with nourishment-related nouns. The noun nourrisson means “infant,” and its plural nourrissons is spelled identically to the verb form sans the subject pronoun, creating potential confusion in written French when context is unclear. Context usually clarifies whether the intended meaning is the verb form (nourrir) or the noun (nourrisson).

Examples:

- Nous nourrissions les animaux du refuge chaque soir pendant l’hiver.

- Quand la tempête est arrivée, nous nourrissions les oiseaux sur le balcon.

Related terms include nourrir (to feed), nourrissage (the act or process of feeding), and nourrissant (nutritious or nourishing). The imperfect nourrissions contrasts with other past tenses in French and is commonly found in narrative descriptions or explanations of past routines.

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