ofendieron

Ofendieron is the pretérito indefinido (simple past) form of the Spanish verb ofender in the third person plural. It translates as "they offended" and is used to describe an action in the past in which someone caused offense or insult to another person or group. In the ustedes form, it also corresponds to "you (all) offended." The verb is transitive and normally requires a direct object introduced with a or, more commonly, a phrase specifying who was offended.

The verb ofender comes from Latin offendere, through the evolution of Spanish, and is closely related to terms such as agraviar and insultar. As a regular -er verb in the pretérito indefinido, its full conjugation in the past is: ofendí, ofendiste, ofendió, ofendimos, ofendisteis, ofendieron. Its participle is ofendido, and its related adjective is ofensivo. The form se ofendieron exists when the sense is reflexive, meaning they became offended rather than they offended others (se ofendieron al escuchar el comentario).

Common usage involves statements like: Los comentarios ofendieron a muchas personas. Las palabras dichas ayer ofendieron a su equipo. In reflexive usage, one might say: Se ofendieron con lo que se dijo, indicando que ellos tomaron offense. The nuance of offense can range from un insulto claro a una irritación o disgusto percibido, depending on context and tone.

Related terms include offended (ofendido) and offense (ofensa). The verb is widely used in everyday Spanish to describe social friction, communication errors and responses to disrespect or harm.