How to Say "they received" in Spanish
The Spanish word for “they received” is “tuvieron” — A1 level. This is a very common word in everyday Spanish.
Examples
Ellos tuvieron mucha suerte en el sorteo.
They had a lot of luck in the raffle.
Ustedes tuvieron que esperar dos horas.
You all had to wait two hours.
Mis padres tuvieron un coche rojo cuando eran jóvenes.
My parents had a red car when they were young.
Who Did the Action?
‘Tuvieron’ is the action of 'they' (ellos/ellas) or 'you all' (ustedes) in the past. It shows that multiple people completed the action of 'having'.
The Irregular Past Stem
The verb 'tener' is tricky in the simple past (Preterite). Instead of using the base 'ten-', it uses the special stem 'tuv-' for all its forms, like 'tuve' and 'tuvieron'.
Mixing Past Tenses
Mistake: “Usando 'tenían' cuando se refiere a una acción terminada. (Using 'tenían' when referring to a finished action.)”
Correction: 'Tenían' describes a state or a habit in the past ('They used to have'), but 'tuvieron' describes a single, finished event ('They had [at that moment]').
Related Translations
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