obbedivano

Obbedivano is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Italian verb obbedire, meaning that “they were obeying” or “they used to obey.” It is used in past narrative or descriptive contexts to express ongoing or habitual obedience by a subject group.

Etymology and usage: Obbedire comes from Latin oboedire, from ob- “toward” and audīre “to hear,” reflecting the sense of heed or listening. In Italian, obbedire typically takes a prepositional object introduced by a or agli, as in obbedire a qualcuno or obbedire agli ordini. The imperfect tense obbedivano describes actions in the past that were repeated or ongoing, rather than completed.

Conjugation: The imperfect forms of obbedire are regular for this tense: io obbedivo, tu obbedivi, lui/lei obbediva, noi obbedivamo, voi obbedivate, loro obbedivano. The form obbedivano specifically matches a plural subject in the past.

Examples: I soldati obbedivano agli ordini. Da ragazzi, obbedivano ai genitori. In narrative or historical writing, obbedivano conveys a sense of continuing obedience over a period, rather than a single completed action.

See also: Italian verb conjugation, obbedire, imperfect tense.