émettais

Émettais is a French verb form that serves as the imperfect (imparfait) of émettre, meaning to emit, send forth, or broadcast. Because the imperfect endings -ais apply to the je and tu forms, émettais corresponds to j’émettais or tu émettais depending on the subject. The tense describes a past, ongoing, or repeated action or state, such as emitting light or broadcasting signals.

Etymology and sense: Émettre comes from Latin emittere, formed from ex- “out” and mittere “to send.” In French, the verb acquired senses related to sending out, projecting, or distributing things—physical emissions, signals, as well as more abstract outputs like opinions or messages.

Conjugation and form: In the imperfect, the verb takes the stem émett- with the endings -ais, -ais, -ait, -ions, -iez, -aient. Thus the forms include j’émettais, tu émettais, il émettait, nous émettions, vous émettiez, ils émettaient. The spelling shows a doubled t in the imperfect stem (émettre → émett-), as seen in émettais, émettait, and related forms.

Usage notes: Émettais is common in descriptive or narrative past contexts, especially in literature, news reports, or technical writing describing past emissions or transmissions. It can refer to physical processes (emitting light or sound) as well as figurative emissions (emitting hypotheses, ideas, or broadcasts).

Examples: J’émettais des signaux pendant l’expérience. Tu émettais des doutes sur la faisabilité. Il émettait une lumière rougeâtre lorsque le capteur s’activait. Nous émettions des hypothèses basées sur les données recueillies.