recevait

Recevait is the imperfect indicative form of the French verb recevoir. It denotes the third-person singular form in the imparfait, used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past, as well as background circumstances.

Conjugation and form: The verb recevoir belongs to a tense that for imparfait uses the stem recev- with standard endings. The full imperfect paradigm is: je recevais, tu recevais, il recevait, nous recevions, vous receviez, ils recevaient. Therefore, recebait is the form used for il/elle/on in the imperfect.

Etymology and usage: Recevoir comes from the Latin recipere and entered Old French as recevoir. In the imperfect, recevoir conveys meanings such as “was receiving,” “used to receive,” or “would receive” depending on context. This tense often sets scene, expresses habitual past actions, or describes conditions in the past.

Examples: Il recevait des visiteurs tous les jours. (He used to receive visitors every day / He was receiving visitors every day.) Elle recevait une lettre lorsque le facteur est passé. (She was receiving a letter when the mail carrier came.)

Notes: As a transitive verb, recevoir takes a direct object (to receive something or someone) and has a compound passé composé form with avoir: il a reçu. The imparfait form recevait is common in narrative and descriptive French, especially in literature and spoken language when detailing past situations.