obedecíamos

Obedecíamos is the imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb obedecer, meaning to obey. It expresses a past habitual action or an ongoing state involving the subject nosotros (we). It can translate as “we used to obey” or “we were obeying.” The subject pronoun is typically implicit in the verb form.

Morphology and pronunciation: The form consists of the stem obedec- plus the imperfect ending -íamos. The accent on í marks the stressed syllable: o-be-de-ce-í-a-mos. It contrasts with obedecía (he/she/it used to obey) and obedecían (they used to obey).

Usage: Obedecíamos is common in narrative or descriptive past tense to describe obedience to rules, commands, or authority in the past. It is used for habitual actions or background context, for example: “Cuando éramos niños, obedecíamos a nuestros padres sin cuestionarlo” or “En aquella época obedecíamos las reglas de la escuela.” The form is not used for present-tense actions.

Etymology: Obedecer comes from Latin oboedire, from ob- (toward) and audire (to hear), meaning to listen toward in order to obey. The verb has developed through Spanish as obedecer and its conjugations, including obedecíamos.

See also: obedecer; imperfect indicative; Spanish verbs ending in -ecer.