ellos deseaban

they wanted, they wished

→ desear
dese to desire; to wish; to want (formal/literary) + aban they imperfect
verb · third plural · imperfect indicative Rare #44,680
they wanted, they wished Imperfect tense (they used to want / were wanting; they used to wish / were wishing).
SP: Deseaban viajar a España algún día.
EN: They wanted to travel to Spain someday.
Conjugation of desear
Indicative imperfect
SingularPlural
First deseaba —
Third deseaba deseaban
Subjunctive imperfect
SingularPlural
First deseaba —
Third deseaba deseaban

La felicidad que me deseaban era difícil de soportar.

The happiness they wished for me was hard to bear.

— El cuento de la princesa Kaguya (2013)

Deseaban tener más tiempo libre.

They wanted more free time.

Los romanos no deseaban la caída de su imperio, pero pasó.

The Romans did not want the fall of their empire, but it happened.

Lo deseaban.

They wanted it.

— Una batalla tras otra (2025)