This is the 5391st most frequent Portuguese word.
sabiam
"Sabiam" is the third-person plural imperfect indicative form of the verb "saber," meaning "they knew."
The word 'sabiam' here is used as the third-person plural imperfect tense of the verb 'saber', meaning 'knew', indicating an action in the past that was ongoing or not completed at the time.
Eles sabiam dos planos para a festa surpresa.
They knew about the plans for the surprise party.
The word 'sabiam' is used in the imperfect tense to denote the second-person plural (vocês) version of 'knew', functioning in an interrogative way to ask if the knowledge existed in the past.
Vocês sabiam que a reunião foi cancelada?
Did you know that the meeting was canceled?
Here, 'sabiam' is used to describe the understanding or knowledge the children had in the past regarding the ability to solve the puzzle.