ils travaillaient

worked

→ travailler
travaill to work + aient ils/elles imperfect
verb · 3rd-person plural, imperfect tense Rare #31,445
worked This form is used for an ongoing or repeated action in the past.
FR: Ils travaillaient dans un café.
EN: They worked in a café.
Conjugation of travailler
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
First travaillais —
Second travaillais —
Third travaillait travaillaient

Tom et Marie travaillaient dans une mine de charbon lorsqu'ils étaient enfants.

Tom and Marie worked in a coal mine when they were children.

Elles travaillaient comme autant d'abeilles.

They worked like busy bees.

Ses parents travaillaient chez nous.

His parents worked for us.

— Caché (2005)

Ils travaillaient comme des abeilles.

They worked like bees.

Bonnie et Clyde ne travaillaient pas seuls.

Bonnie and Clyde did not work alone.

— Léon (1994)

Shanu et Pooja travaillaient sur un chantier.

Shanu and Pooja were working on a construction site.

— Article 15 (2019)

Elles travaillaient comme des abeilles.

They worked like bees.

La plupart de ces hommes travaillaient à la mine.

Most of these men worked in the mine.

Ils travaillaient comme musiciens.

They worked as musicians.

— The Salt of the Earth (2014)

Cinq frères travaillaient ensemble à la ferme.

Five brothers worked together on the farm.

Les gens de Rosehip Way travaillaient bien plus tard qu’Antonio’s.

The people at Rosehip Way worked much later than those at Antonio’s.