sabíamos

Sabíamos is the first-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb saber, meaning "we knew" or "we used to know." It conveys past knowledge, a past state of knowing, or habitual knowledge, and it is frequently used to report information known in the past.

Etymology and form: Saber comes from Latin sapere, meaning "to be wise, to know," and is cognate with Italian sapere and French savoir. In Spanish, sabíamos is built from the stem sab- combined with the imperfect ending -íamos. The imperfect tense here often signals ongoing or repeated past knowledge rather than a single moment of learning.

Usage and nuances: The imperfect saber contrasts with the preterite saber as a moment of discovery (supimos, we found out) and with saber presente (sabemos, we know). Sabíamos is commonly used with clauses introducing what was known: "sabíamos que..." (we knew that...), "sabíamos cómo..." (we knew how...), or to express a habitual knowledge in the past, as in routines or general familiarity.

Examples:

- Cuando éramos niños, sabíamos la historia de la casa. (When we were children, we knew the story of the house.)

- No sabíamos qué hacer. (We didn't know what to do.)

- Sabíamos hablar español desde pequeños. (We knew how to speak Spanish since we were little.)

See also: saber, conjugation of saber, imperfect tense in Spanish, expression of past knowledge.