Fuimos al vivero ayer.

Fuimos is the preterite form of ir for nosotros/nosotras, so it means we went.

• ir = to go
• fuimos = we went

In this sentence, Fuimos al vivero ayer, fuimos clearly means we went.

One thing that often confuses learners: fuimos can also be the preterite of ser (we were). Context tells you which meaning is intended. Because this sentence includes al vivero (to the garden center / nursery), it must mean we went.

Because in Spanish, a + el contracts to al.

So:

• a = to
• el = the
• a el becomes al

That is why you say:

• Fuimos al vivero
• not Fuimos a el vivero

This contraction is mandatory in standard Spanish.

A useful comparison:

• a + el = al
• de + el = del

But there is no contraction with la:

• a la tienda
• not ala tienda

In Spain, vivero usually means a plant nursery, garden center, or a place where plants are grown and sold.

So depending on context, English translations might be:

• plant nursery
• garden center
• sometimes simply nursery if the context is obviously about plants

For an English speaker, this is important because nursery in English can also mean a room for babies or young children. Vivero does not normally mean that.

Because Spanish word order is more flexible than English word order.

Ayer means yesterday, and it can often go in different positions:

• Fuimos al vivero ayer.
• Ayer fuimos al vivero.

Both are natural.

Putting ayer at the end is very common and sounds completely normal. Putting it at the beginning can add a bit more focus to the time:

• Ayer fuimos al vivero = Yesterday, we went to the nursery/garden center.

Because this sentence describes a completed action in the past.

• ayer already points to a specific finished time: yesterday
• fuimos is the preterite, which is commonly used for completed events

So Fuimos al vivero ayer means a finished action: we went yesterday.

If you used the imperfect, it would usually suggest a habitual, ongoing, or background action, which would not fit as naturally here.

Because Spanish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb form already makes the subject clear.

• fuimos already tells you the subject is we (nosotros/nosotras)

So Spanish normally says:

• Fuimos al vivero ayer.

You could say:

• Nosotros fuimos al vivero ayer.

But that is usually only done for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

Yes. Fuimos can mean either:

• we went from ir
• we were from ser

This is one of the classic irregular overlaps in Spanish.

Examples:

• Fuimos al vivero ayer. = We went to the nursery/garden center yesterday.
• Fuimos muy felices allí. = We were very happy there.

In your sentence, al vivero shows movement to a place, so the meaning is definitely we went.

Yes, vivero is masculine:

• el vivero

That is why the sentence has al:

• a + el vivero = al vivero

The -o ending often suggests a masculine noun, and in this case that pattern works.

A natural Spain pronunciation is approximately:

FWEE-mos al bee-BEH-ro ah-YEHR

A few useful notes:

• fuimos: the fui- sounds like fwee-
• v and b are pronounced very similarly in Spanish, so vivero sounds closer to bibero than to an English v
• in most of Spain, r is tapped lightly in vivero
• ayer has the stress on the second syllable: a-YER

A rough IPA version would be:

[ˈfwi.mos al biˈβe.ɾo aˈʝeɾ]

Yes, absolutely.

Both are correct:

• Fuimos al vivero ayer.
• Ayer fuimos al vivero.

The difference is mainly emphasis and style, not basic meaning.

• Ayer fuimos al vivero puts the time first
• Fuimos al vivero ayer sounds a bit more neutral in many contexts

Ayer is an adverb of time.

It tells you when the action happened:

• Fuimos = what happened
• al vivero = where you went
• ayer = when it happened

Because it is an adverb, you do not use an article with it here. You simply say:

• ayer = yesterday

not el ayer in this kind of sentence.