possédais

Possédais is the imperfect tense form of the French verb posséder, meaning to possess or own. It is used with the subject pronouns je or tu (je possédais, tu possédais) and forms part of the imperfect conjugation of posséder, whose other forms are il possédait, nous possédions, vous possédiez, ils possédaient. The imperfect expresses possession as an ongoing state or repeated action in the past, rather than a completed act.

Phonology and form: The stem is posséd-, and the usual imperfect endings are -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. The accent on é is retained in all forms. The imperfect of posséder is regular for -ER verbs, despite variations in its present tense.

Examples: Je possédais une maison au bord de l’océan. Tu possédais une collection de timbres. These uses illustrate a past, ongoing state of ownership rather than a single event.

Notes: Posséder in general refers to ownership or possession, including tangible property and certain abstract rights. The noun possession and related terms such as possessif (possessive) derive from the same root, connecting the verb to its grammatical and lexical family.