sonreían

Sonreían is the imperfect subjunctive third-person plural form of the Spanish verb sonreír, which means "to smile." This grammatical form is used to express a past action or state that was hypothetical, uncertain, desired, or emotional from a past perspective.

The imperfect subjunctive is typically used in subordinate clauses that follow certain conjunctions or expressions indicating doubt, emotion, volition, or necessity. For example, one might say "Quería que sonreían" (I wanted them to smile). In this sentence, "sonreían" is in the imperfect subjunctive because it expresses a desire or volition from a past point of view. Another common use is in clauses following expressions of doubt or denial in the past, such as "No creía que sonreían" (I didn't believe they were smiling).

The imperfect subjunctive "sonreían" specifically refers to the action of smiling performed by multiple people in the past, within the context of the aforementioned grammatical structures. It conveys a sense of ongoing or habitual smiling in the past, or a smile that was contingent on a past condition. Its precise meaning depends heavily on the main clause of the sentence and the overall context.