pretendían

Pretendían is a Spanish verb, the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the verb pretender. It translates to "they were pretending," "they intended," or "they claimed" in English, depending on the context. The imperfect tense in Spanish is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, or to set the scene. Therefore, "pretendían" suggests an action or state that was happening over a period of time or was a repeated occurrence in the past.

The verb "pretender" itself has multiple meanings. It can mean to aim for a goal, to aspire to something, or to desire it. In this sense, "pretendían" would imply that a group of people had certain ambitions or goals they were working towards in the past. Alternatively, "pretender" can also mean to feign or to act as if something is true when it is not. When used in this manner, "pretendían" would indicate that a group of people were deceiving others or putting on a false appearance. The specific meaning is clarified by the surrounding sentence and the overall narrative.