soutenais

Soutenais is a conjugated form of the French verb soutenir. It is the imperfect indicative of soutenir, used to describe ongoing or repeated actions in the past or to set a descriptive background in narration. The verb soutenir means to support, uphold, or sustain, in physical, emotional, or figurative senses.

Etymology and form: Soutenir comes from Old French sustenir/soutenir, with roots in Latin sustinere, meaning to hold up or endure. In the imperfect tense, the endings are -ais for je and tu: je soutenais, tu soutenais, il soutenait, nous soutenions, vous souteniez, ils soutenaient. The form "soutenais" can represent either j e soutenais or tu soutenais, depending on the subject pronoun.

Usage: The imperfect soutenais describes actions or states that were ongoing in the past, rather than single completed events. It can refer to physical support (holding up a structure), emotional or moral support (encouraging someone), or sustained backing of a project, argument, or cause. It often appears in narrative passages to provide background, contrasted with passé composé for completed actions.

Examples:

- Je soutenais mes amis quand ils traversaient des moments difficiles.

- Elle soutenait ses arguments avec des données solides.

- Pendant des années, je soutenais financièrement ma famille.

Notes: Because soutenais is an imperfect form, its subject is not explicit in the verb itself and must be inferred from context. It is related to other forms of soutenir, including present soutiens, passé composé soutenu, and future soutiendra.