The Greek imperfect παρετήρουν ('they were watching closely') expresses durative past action through a single finite verb; the Peshitta renders this periphrastically with ܘܢܛܪܝܢ ܗܘܘ (participle + auxiliary ܗܘܘ), the standard Syriac construction for the continuous past. The Latin imperfect observabant matches the Greek aspect with a single form.