sétendait

sétendait is a French verb in the imperfect tense, third-person singular form of the verb s'étendre. The verb s'étendre means to extend, to spread out, to stretch, or to lie down. Therefore, sétendait translates to "was extending," "was spreading out," "was stretching," or "was lying down."

In French grammar, the imperfect tense is used to describe ongoing actions in the past, habitual actions in the past, or states of being in the past. When used with s'étendre, sétendait would typically describe something that was in the process of expanding or covering an area at a particular time in the past. For example, "La forêt sétendait à perte de vue" means "The forest was stretching as far as the eye could see." This sentence describes the vastness of the forest as an ongoing state in the past.

Another usage could be to describe a physical position. For instance, "Le chat sétendait au soleil" translates to "The cat was lying down in the sun." Here, sétendait depicts the cat's relaxed posture and the continuous action of being in that position. The context in which sétendait appears is crucial for determining its precise meaning. It signifies a past situation or action that was not necessarily completed but was ongoing or descriptive.