pusieron

Pusieron is the pretérito perfecto simple (preterite) form of the Spanish verb poner for the third-person plural subjects ellos, ellas, or ustedes. It denotes a completed action in the past, and translates as “they put” or “they placed.” The full set of preterite forms of poner is: puse, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, pusieron.

Etymology and form: Poner comes from Latin ponere, and its Spanish preterite forms are irregular. In the pretérite, the stem changes to pus- for all persons except the infinitive’s normal root, yielding pusé, pusiste, puso, pusimos, pusisteis, and pusieron. The form pusieron specifically corresponds to the third-person plural.

Usage and examples: Pusieron is used for actions completed in the past where a transitive verb is involved. Examples include: Los invitados pusieron la mesa. (The guests set the table.) Ellos pusieron música. (They played/music.) Ustedes pusieron fin al conflicto. (You all put an end to the conflict.) Pusieron en escena una obra, meaning they staged or put on a play. The phrase can also appear in idiomatic constructions such as “pusieron a prueba” (they put to the test).

Regional and dialect considerations: In Latin American Spanish, ustedes pusieron is common to express “you all put.” In Spain, the corresponding form for vosotros is pusisteis, while ustedes (in many regions) use pusieron. Poner is a highly frequent verb, and pusieron is one of its most common past forms.

Related forms: Poner also has other past tenses, such as the imperfect ponía/ponían, and the present tense pongo, pones, pone, ponemos, ponéis, ponen.