vieram

Vieram is a Portuguese verb form that functions as the third-person plural of the verb vir in the pretérito perfeito do indicativo (simple past). In standard usage it means “they came,” and it is typically used with an explicit subject such as eles/elas, or with the implicit subject indicated by context (in spoken Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted). When addressing a group, speakers would usually say “vocês vieram.”

Grammatically, vir is an irregular verb, and vieram reflects the historical development of the preterite form in Portuguese. The form is derived from the Latin venīre (to come) and shares cognates with other Romance languages’ past forms of venire (for example, Spanish vinieron, Italian vennero). The preterite tense indicates actions completed in the past with a definite endpoint.

Usage notes include its frequent appearance in narrative and descriptive past contexts, and its compatibility with time adverbs such as ontem, ontem à noite, ou cedo. It can be combined with prepositional phrases to indicate origin or means of arrival, for example: “Eles vieram de trem” (They came by train) or “Vieram da escola” (They came from school).

See also: Portuguese verb conjugation, vir, pretérito perfeito do indicativo. Vieram is one of several past-tense forms of vir; others include vim (eu), vieste (tu), veio (ele/ela), vimos (nós), vieram (eles/elas).