Which would a native speaker use? Fue or Estuvo

Question

My Spanish tapes use:

La comida fue deliciosa.

A native speaker from Mexico told me to use:

La comida estuvo deliciosa.

Which is more commonly used in South America and in Spain?

Gracias por ayudarme.

Answer 1

They get an equal number of google hits.

Here is lazarus weighing in on a related issue of preterite or imperfect for this question.

link

And some other people discussing ser vs. estar for this question:

link

Here's a quote:

estar is used for compliments. When you use ser, you are referring to the intrinsic, non-changing, usual, expected characteristics of something.

So you say "estás guapísima" when you see your girlfriend/wife in a new dress. If you say "eres guapísima", you are saying that they are like that all the time, which could be construed as "That new dress doesn't do anything for you".

Arguably "eres guapa" is a compliment too, but when there's a novelty or surprise, estar is usually used.

Saying "La comida es buena" is like saying "rain is wet". We all need to eat, and so food is generally lies in the category of good thing.

Saying "está buena" (for food) says "This food has the novelty of being good, and surprises me with it's goodness".

Hope that's added something,

• Good research. Love the last bit there in the lazarus quote. - webdunce Nov 15, 2009
• The quote is actually from bluejazzshark. - lorenzo9 Nov 15, 2009
• oh, oops. - webdunce Nov 15, 2009

Answer 2

I think this is a regional concept. In Spain we would use:

Esta comida fue deliciosa.

When we eat something new, we normally say:

Esto está buenísimo.

Answer 3

This is the big battle between ser and estar. I´m not a native speaker, but I think your Mexican acquaintance is correct.