This is the 5466th most frequent Catalan word.
competien
"Competien" means "they competed" in English.
In this sentence, the word 'competien' is used in the imperfect past tense to describe an ongoing action in the past where athletes were engaged in competition.
Ahir a la competició d'atletisme, els atletes competien intensament.
Yesterday at the track and field competition, the athletes were competing intensely.
Here, 'competien' again appears in the imperfect past tense to describe a situation of rivalry between the two teams extending over a period of time.
Els dos equips competien per aconseguir el mateix contracte.
The two teams were competing to obtain the same contract.
In this sentence, the word 'competien' refers to a habitual or repeated action in the past by the cities competing with one another, as conveyed by the imperfect past tense.