Era vs Fue in a story

Question

If I am writing a short story in the past tense, should I use era or fue? Two examples of this in my story are: "The violence was common during the war" and "One type was destructive and addictive"

"la violencia era común durante la guerra" "Un tipo era destructiva"

Thanks

Answer 1

Era, definitely.

Fue would be used if things were violent on a certain day or at some other particular point in time.

This was so helpful! - jrschenk, DIC 16, 2013

Answer 2

You would use the imperfect Era to set the scene/begin the story and would use fue only for situations which indicated that some action had taken place at a specific time in the past.

Imperfect verbs set the scene which is interrupted by a preterite verb

For example: " Estaba Lloviendo cuando corrió de repente una chica en una iglesia' = It was raining when a girl suddenly ran into (inside) a church

The imperfect is also used to indicate time and dates,describe people, feelings,and actions of unknown duration.

por ejemplo " Estábamos muy felices porque era una vacación muy devirtida " = We were very happy because it was a very enjoyable holiday

For further details please seePralee's lesson: 2.10 Era v Fue in a story