estuviéran

Estuviéran is a Spanish verb form. It is the third-person plural imperfect subjunctive of the verb estar, which means "to be." The imperfect subjunctive mood is used to express a variety of nuances, including doubt, desire, emotion, or hypothetical situations, often in dependent clauses.

Specifically, "estuviéran" would be used in sentences where a past action or state of being is being described in a subjunctive context. For example, it might appear in a sentence like "No creía que estuvieran tan cansados" (I didn't think they were so tired), where "estuvieran" expresses the speaker's doubt about their state of being. Another example could be "Si hubieran estado allí, habrían visto el espectáculo" (If they had been there, they would have seen the show), illustrating a hypothetical past condition.

The imperfect subjunctive has two forms in Spanish, both of which are correct: the -ra form (estuvieran) and the -se form (estuviesen). Both are interchangeable and convey the same meaning. The choice between them is largely a matter of regional preference or stylistic choice. Understanding the imperfect subjunctive is crucial for comprehending complex sentence structures and the subtle shades of meaning in Spanish.