Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Eles trouxeram os pacotes pelo caminho. - They brought the packages through the path.

Trouxeram is the Pretérito Perfeito Simples (simple past) of the verb trazer (to bring) for eles, elas, or vocês. This verb is highly irregular in the past tense. Its stem changes completely to troux-, giving us forms like trouxe (I brought) and trouxeram (they brought).

How do you pronounce the 'x' in trouxeram?

In all past tense forms of trazer (such as trouxeram), the letter 'x' is pronounced like an 'ss' sound. It sounds similar to the double 's' in the English word 'lesson', and definitely not like a 'sh' or 'ks'.

Where does the word pelo come from here?

Pelo is a mandatory contraction of the preposition por (through, by) and the masculine singular definite article o (the). Since caminho (path) is a masculine noun, we must combine por and o into pelo.

Why use pelo for "through" instead of another word?

The preposition por (and its contractions like pelo) is the standard Portuguese way to talk about the route or passage taken. Depending on the context, it translates to 'through', 'by', or 'along' in English, making pelo caminho the natural way to say they went along that path.