seguían

Seguían is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb seguir. It translates roughly as "they were following" or "they used to follow," and can also be understood as "you all were following" when the subject is ustedes.

Form and morphology: In the imperfect tense, seguir uses the regular endings for -er/-ir verbs: -ía, -ías, -ía, -íamos, -íais, -ían. For ellos/ellas/ustedes the form is seguían, with an accent on the í to indicate the correct stress. The stem remains segu- in this tense, unlike some present-tense forms where the stem changes (sigo, sigues, sigue, seguimos, seguís, siguen).

Usage: Seguían is used to describe ongoing or habitual actions in the past or to set a past scene. Examples include: "Los coches seguían al convoy" (The cars were following the convoy) and "Cuando era joven, seguían las reglas" (When I was young, they used to follow the rules). It contrasts with the preterite "siguieron," which denotes a completed action. The verb often appears with the preposition a when followed by a person or group, as in "seguir a alguien" (to follow someone).

Etymology and related forms: Seguír derives from Latin sequī, meaning to follow. Related forms include seguida/seguido (following; led or chased), seguidor (follower), and siguientemente (consequently, following). The gerund is siguiendo.

See also: seguir, seguir a alguien, conjugation of seguir, imperfect tense in Spanish.