-aron: This ending marks the third-person plural preterite of regular verbs. This tense is used for actions that happened in the past and are now completed.
* Example: "Ellos corrieron rápido" (They ran fast)
-aban: This ending marks the third-person plural imperfect of regular verbs. This tense is used to describe actions that happened in the past and continued for a period of time or were habitual.
* Example: "Ellos corrian todos los días" (They used to run every day).
Key Differences:
* Tense: Preterite vs. Imperfect
* Action: Completed action (preterite) vs. Ongoing or habitual action (imperfect)
In summary, "-aron" and "-aban" are not interchangeable. They mark different tenses and have different meanings.