This is the 11793rd most frequent French word.
souriait
"Was smiling."
In this sentence, 'souriait' is used as the imperfect tense of 'sourire', indicating an ongoing or habitual action in the past.
Elle souriait en pensant à ses vacances.
She was smiling thinking about her holidays.
Here, 'souriait' describes an action in progress or a repeated action in the past, fitting its use in narrative contexts.
L'enfant souriait timidement au nouvel arrivant.
The child smiled shyly at the newcomer.
In this case, 'souriait' highlights the group’s continuous emotional expression during a specific past moment.