prestaron

Prestaron is a Spanish verb form, specifically the third-person plural preterite indicative of prestar. It translates to "they lent" and is also used with ustedes as the subject, yielding the same form in many dialects. The construction is regular for an -ar verb: present stem prestar plus the preterite endings -aron for the ellos/ellas/ustedes form. Example: Ellos prestaron dinero al vecino. They lent money to the neighbor.

Etymology and function: Prestonar derives from the Latin praestāre, meaning to furnish or provide. In Spanish, prestar generally means to lend or loan something temporarily, with the noun loan being préstamo. The preterite prestaron is used to describe a completed action in the past.

Usage notes: Prestaron is commonly used in narratives or reports of past events, operations, or transactions involving lending. It is paired with direct objects indicating what is lent and with indirect objects naming the recipient. Distinguish from prestaba (imperfect) or prestan (present), which convey different tenses or aspects. In questions, you might ask, ¿Prestaron ustedes el libro? Did you all lend the book?

Related terms: prestar (to lend), préstamo (loan), prestamista (lender), prestado (lent, as a past participle). Pronunciation is typically indicated as preverbal stress on the second-to-last syllable: pre-STÁ-ron.