vivían

Vivían is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the Spanish verb vivir, meaning "they lived" or "they were living." It is used to describe habitual or ongoing actions, states, or background information in the past.

In the imperfect tense, vivir is conjugated as: yo vivía, tú vivías, él/ella/usted vivía, nosotros vivíamos, vosotros vivíais, ellos/ellas/ustedes vivían. The form vivían carries an acute accent on the í to indicate the stressed syllable.

Usage notes: The imperfect, including vivían, is commonly used for past habitual actions, descriptions of scenes or conditions, and actions without defined endpoints. It contrasts with the preterite vivieron, which expresses a completed or punctual past action. In narratives, the imperfect can establish setting or ongoing circumstances before another event occurs.

Examples: Cuando eran niños, vivían en una aldea junto al río. Antes de mudarse, vivían en Madrid. These sentences illustrate the habitual or background sense of the past rather than a single completed event.

See also: Spanish verb conjugation, imperfect tense, preterite tense, and other mood and tense distinctions in Spanish.