obtenait

Obtenait is a French verb form. It is the imperfect indicative third-person singular of obtenir, meaning that it corresponds to "he/she/it was obtaining" or "used to obtain." It appears in narratives and descriptive writing to express past actions that were ongoing or habitual.

Etymology: obtenir comes from Old French obtenir, ultimately deriving from Latin obtinēre, meaning “to hold, to gain.” The modern sense covers to obtain, to acquire, or to procure something. The imperfect form obtenait inherits the same root.

Conjugation and forms: In the imperfect tense, obtenir uses the stem obten- with the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Therefore the third-person singular form is obtenait. Other imperfect forms include j'obtenais, tu obtenais, nous obtenions, vous obteniez, ils obte­naient. The spelling preserves the 't' after the nasal prefix, yielding obtenait.

Usage and nuance: The imparfait (imperfect) describes ongoing or habitual past actions, or the background scene in narratives. Obtenait emphasizes the process or repetition of obtaining something rather than a completed act. By contrast, a completed past action is commonly expressed with passé composé, as in il a obtenu (he obtained). Examples: Il obtenait des informations pendant l’enquête. Elle obtenait des subventions de manière régulière.

See also: obtenir. The term is a specific conjugated form of a common verb, and studying obten- forms helps with understanding sections of French literature and historical prose where ongoing past actions are described.