cayeron

Cayeron is the third-person plural form of the Spanish verb caer in the pretérito perfecto simple (preterite). It corresponds to the English "they fell" or, in regions with vosotros, "you all fell," and it is used for actions that were completed in the past. The form can describe people, objects, or events that fell or dropped, either literally or figuratively, and it is common in narration and reporting.

In usage, cayeron can denote a physical fall, such as "Los cuadros cayeron al suelo" (the paintings fell onto the floor). It can also refer to abrupt or accidental events, for example, "Las piezas cayeron durante la tormenta." Additionally, in informal or journalistic language, cayeron is sometimes used to indicate that someone was arrested or captured, as in "Cayeron cinco sospechosos" (Five suspects were arrested). It can also appear in the sense of “falling for” a trap, as in "cayeron en la trampa."

Grammatically, caer is an irregular verb in the preterite with a stem change in the third-person forms. In the pretérito, the forms are: caí, caíste, cayó, caímos, caísteis, cayeron, with the third-person plural form ending in -eron and the letter y (ca-yer) in that part of the paradigm. The etymology traces to Latin cadere, meaning to fall.

Cayeron functions as a standard past tense form in Spanish and is widely used across dialects to convey completed past events involving falling or falling-talling phenomena.