Why is the preterit form of "ir" and "ser" the same?

Question

How do you tell them apart?

Answer 1

Yes, context is the key. For example: "Mi vecino fue un gran hombre." vs. "Mi vecino fue a Acapulco."

Once you get the hang of it, it's really no big deal. English has some instances like that. For example: "I had had a question". We use "have" to mean actual possession as well as the auxiliary verb. Or what about the word "does"? We use it to form information questions as well as a verb indicating action. "Does he know?". vs "He does the work."

Every language has its own weirdness. Spanish is probably no better or worse than English in that regard.

Good question!

• Thank you. That helped. - person258 Nov 10, 2009

Answer 2

You tell them apart by looking at how they are used in the sentence. You use context to determine the meaning.