ellos Estuvieron

were

e s t u ˈb j e ɾ o n → estar

estuv be (doing) + ieron third-person plural preterite

verb · 3rd-person plural, past tense Rare #44,105

were

SP: Estuvieron en casa toda la tarde.

EN: They were at home all afternoon.

Conjugation of estar

Were our soldiers here recently?

— Las flores de la guerra (2011)

Were they here?

Did everyone agree?

Were you at home yesterday?

They spent two hours in church, and they expect to see heaven here, but there’s no heaven!

— Malcolm X (1992)

¿Estuvieron en Madagascar?

Were they in Madagascar?

— Dos son familia (2016)

Sounds similar to