This is the 11801st most frequent French word.
souvenait
"Souvenait" means "was remembering" or "remembered" (imperfect tense of "se souvenir").
The verb 'souvenait' is part of the reflexive verb 'se souvenir', meaning 'remember', used here in the imperfect tense to describe a past state of remembering.
Elle se souvenait de son enfance à la campagne avec beaucoup de nostalgie.
She remembered her childhood in the countryside with much nostalgia.
In this sentence, 'souvenait' expresses the inability to recall a past detail, in the negative form, highlighting a memory-related impression.
Il ne se souvenait pas de l'endroit où il avait laissé ses clés.
He did not remember the place where he had left his keys.
'Souvenions' used here signifies the collective act of remembering positive experiences, again in the imperfect tense to indicate habitual actions in the past.