pagaban

Pagaban is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb pagar, meaning “to pay.” It corresponds to the English forms “they were paying” or “they used to pay.” The imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, background information, or actions in progress when another action occurred. As a conjugated form, pagaban does not function as a separate lexeme; it is the inflected form of pagar.

Conjugation context: pagar is a regular -ar verb. Related forms include: present: pago, pagas, paga, pagamos, pagáis, pagan; preterite: pagué, pagaste, pagó, pagamos, pagasteis, pagaron; imperfect: pagaba, pagabas, pagaba, pagábamos, pagabais, pagaban.

Usage examples: “Cuando llegué, ellos pagaban la cuenta” (When I arrived, they were paying the bill). “Antes pagaban sus deudas a tiempo” (They used to pay their debts on time). The choice between imperfect and other past tenses depends on aspect, duration, and context.

Notes: Pagaban appears widely across Spanish-speaking dialects and is understood in standard usage. Its precise nuance is determined by surrounding time markers (like siempre, cuando, mientras) and the broader narrative context. It is not a standalone noun or proper noun; it is a grammatical form of pagar. See also pagar and the broader guide to Spanish verb conjugation and the imperfect tense.