dieron

Dieron is the third-person plural preterite (simple past) form of the Spanish verb dar, meaning they gave. It is used in narrative or factual contexts to describe a completed act of giving in the past. In many dialects, especially in Latin American Spanish, it is also the form used with ustedes as the subject, since ustedes behave as ellos/ellas in the past tense.

The verb dar is irregular in the preterite. Its full preterite conjugation is di, diste, dio, dimos, disteis, dieron. The form dieron specifically corresponds to the ellos/ellas/ustedes subject in the past. Etymologically, dar comes from the Latin dare, meaning to give, and the preterite endings for -er/-ir verbs in the third person plural yield the -ieron ending seen in dieron, following an irregular root pattern unique to dar and a few related verbs.

Common uses of dieron include reporting that someone provided something (dieron regalos, they gave gifts), describing actions completed in the past (ellos dieron una respuesta, they gave an answer), or expressing findings and results (los investigadores dieron con la solución, the researchers found the solution). It can also appear in expressions such as dieron por terminado el proceso (they declared the process finished) or dieron a entender que sería prudente esperar (they indicated it would be prudent to wait).

See also: conjugation patterns of dar, comparison with other preterite forms, and related verbs such as entregar and ofrecer.