vêtaient

Vêtaient is the imperfect indicative form of the verb vêtir in French. It expresses a past action of clothing or dressing and is primarily found in literary, historical, or formal registers. In contemporary speech, the sense is usually conveyed with porter (to wear) or with the reflexive se vêtir (to dress oneself).

Etymology and meaning: vêtir comes from Old French vestir, from Latin vestire, related to vestis, meaning clothing or garment. The form vêtaient corresponds to the third-person plural imperfect ending and can serve either transitively (they clothed someone) or reflexively (they dressed themselves) depending on context.

Usage and register: vêtaient is largely archaic or literary in modern French. It appears in translations of older texts, classic novels, or stylistic passages that seek a historical tone. In most everyday writing, one would use porter or se vêtir in its present or past forms, or a simple expression like ils portaient des manteaux.

Conjugation note: The imperfect form is built on the stem vêtt- (or vêt- with the circumflex), adding the ordinary imperfect endings: -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus: je vêtais, tu vêtais, il vêtaIt, nous vêtions, vous vêtiez, ils vêtaient. The reflexive variant for se vêtir follows the same endings with the appropriate pronoun: je me vêtais, ils se vêtaient, etc.

Example: Ils vêtaient des manteaux lourds pour sortir dans le froid. This illustrates the sense of clothing in the past, typical of a narrative or descriptive passage in a historical or literary style.