Eran / Fueron confusion

Question

This question was on a Spanish test that I took recently and I am about 95% sure that I got it wrong. I still do not know the answer if anyone would care to help!

Mi hermana llegó ayer por la noche. ____ las once y yo ya ____ dormida.

a. eran - estuve b. fueron - estuve c. fueron - estaba d. eran - estaba

My guess is that b. is the answer but I am not completely sure. I know that "fueron" is the past tense for "ser," but "eran" is also. I believe that my question is a matter of which tense is the correct one, and if the tense always remains the same throughout the entire sentence. Thank you for any help!!

Answer 1

I'd say it was "eran" and "estaba."

You always use the imperfect when talking about time and age in the past tense.

"Eran las once."

"Cuando era niña."

"Cuando tenía cinco años."

Thanks again Marianne! That is a helpful description of when to use the imperfect tense! - doddjose, May 17, 2010

Answer 2

Time is imperfect, so "eran las once"

Oh, and since you were in the state of "being asleep", it would be "estaba". - Luciente, May 17, 2010

Do you know if there can be two different tenses used within the same sentence? - doddjose, May 17, 2010

Yes, definitely. There are in that sentence: Someone arrived (one time completed action, so preterite), when someone else was asleep (state, so imperfect) - Luciente, May 17, 2010

They are actually two different sentences though... - doddjose, May 17, 2010