suivais

Suivais is a conjugated form of the French verb suivre, which means to follow. In isolation it denotes the imperfect tense and can be the first-person singular je suivais or the second-person singular tu suivais, depending on the subject. The imperfect is used to describe ongoing or repeated past actions, past states, or to set the scene in narration.

Conjugation and form: The imperfect of suivre is formed by taking the present tense nous form of suivre (nous suivons), dropping the -ons to obtain the stem suiv-, and adding the standard imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus the forms are je suivais, tu suivais, il suivait, nous suivions, vous suiviez, ils suivaient. The spelling keeps the i after the u in all persons, and there is no loss of the base consonant in this tense.

Usage: Suivais appears in descriptive past statements or narratives: for example, “Quand j’étais jeune, je suivais souvent les leçons de musique” (When I was young, I used to follow the music lessons). It contrasts with the passé composé, which marks completed actions, and with the present tense when describing ongoing situations in the past. The imperfect often provides background information or habitual actions rather than single completed events.

Related forms: Suivre is irregular in the present tense, but the imparfait forms are regular with the usual endings. The verb also has present subjunctive forms (que je suive) and, in more formal or literary language, imperfect subjunctive forms such as (que je suivisse) may appear, though the latter is uncommon in contemporary usage. Etymology traces suivi from Old French suivre, itself from Latin subsequī, meaning to follow.