This is the 12948th most frequent Spanish word.
pensaban
"They thought" or "they were thinking."
In this sentence, 'pensaban' is used to indicate a past belief or thought about something that might happen.
Ellos pensaban que llovería hoy.
They thought it would rain today.
Here, 'pensaban' shows habitual actions in past, referring to their frequent thoughts during childhood.
Cuando eran niños, siempre pensaban en aventuras.
When they were kids, they always thought about adventures.
In this third example, 'pensaban' expresses an ongoing internal thought process in the past.