To say that something "was good", do you use ser or estar, and then would it be fue or era or estuvo or estaba?

Question

I'm thinking or things like a film was good, or my holiday was good etc.

Answer 1

You want to use Estar.

La película estuvo bien.

La comida estuvo bien.

La fiesta estuvo bien.

For saying you had a good time on vacation, at a party, etc, you want to use pasar bien.

Me la pasé bien en vacaciones.

Me lo pasé muy bien anoche contigo.

Notice I used both la and lo in my examples. That seems to be regional, which one is right or wrong depends on who you ask.

Answer 2

La película fue bien - It was good well-made movie. High-quality, etc.

Estuvo bien - You personally found it good.

The key I think is in subjective opinion vs. the actual innate quality of the movie.

De acuredo... :-) - cristalino, Jul 13, 2011

nice :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

You can only use "bien" with estar: "estar bien". It is incorrect to use "ser bien". - elCocoLoco, Jul 14, 2011

Answer 3

Just to throw a cat amongst the pigeons are you sure it's not estuvo? La fiesta estuvo buena.

Oh, Kiwi! Now what are we going to do?! - Leatha, Jul 13, 2011

je je I know it's not easy is it but I'm determined to master this ser/estar pret/imp business! - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

The "cat - pigeons" thing... is that like throwing a monkey wrench into the machinery? :) - cristalino, Jul 13, 2011

je je well I guess it could be similar although in your example that'd make everything grind to a halt whereas chucking a cat in amongst the pigeons or into the dove house would make them all screech and fly around or cause a furore? - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 4

You mostly have to use "estar":

La película estuvo buena.

La comida estuvo buena.

El partido estuvo bueno.

But you can also say:

Fue un buen partido. "It was a good match".

Fue una buena comida. It was a good food.

Fue una buena película. "It was a good movie"

It simply doesn't sound quite well to say "La comida fue buena" or "La película fue buena" because it sounds like in a certain point it stopped being "good".

Hope this helps.

"La comida fue buena" appears in many Spanish (Spain) travel guides and food blogs. - Jack-OBrien, Jul 13, 2011

Dakie, here in the U.S., for "Fue una buena comida" we would say, "It was a good meal." -or- "It was good food."... I would offer the article "a" is unnecessary in this case.... :) - cristalino, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 5

The film was good. You're expressing your opinion about the film, so use ser. When was it good? Last night, or whenever you saw it, so use fue. It was only 'good' when you saw it, and that was last night. La película fue buena.

EDIT

Some examples my tutor just gave me (native Spanish speaker). He assured me that both forms are used (fue and era), but estar is only used for en este momento.

En el restaurante que frecuentaba cuando era joven, la comida era deliciosa (ahora no lo sé, porque hace tiempo que no voy).

La comida a la que me invitaron el otro día fue deliciosa.

Si hubiera sabido que la comida aquí era deliciosa, hubiera venido antes.

La comida fue deliciosa, pero el servicio muy malo.

La comida era tan buena que repetí.

Answer 6

I think part of the problem is to some extent this is also a regional issue, and also very much depends on context.

I remember once I said to a friend, "la película fue bien" and was immediately corrected with "estuvo". I've always heard estuvo used in this case.

To make matters worse, I just found this:

In Spain you wouln't say: La película estaba buenísima, but

La película estaba muy bien. La película estuvo muy bien La película era buenísima.

However, la película estaba/estuvo buenísima is very common in some Latinoamerican countries.

And this:

Ser buena.
Estar muy bien.

Estas son las dos opciones que se aceptan en España. No obstante, estar muy buena se utiliza en Hispanoamérica.

Todas las opciones que das son correctas dependiendo del contexto. Algunas de las construcciones son algo chocantes, pero si le encuentras un contexto funcionan.

La película es buena: Trato de establecer un juicio inapelable. No

depende de mi opinión, sino de lo que dice casi todo el mundo: Ciudadano Kane es una película muy buena. La película está bien: depende de la entonación, del énfasis, del contexto y de factores pragmáticos, pero mi afirmación no parece tan segura como la anterior. Además, se puede tratrar de una valoración personal, más que de un juicio general: me parece que está muy bien la película.

Era, fue, estuvo y estaba es otro problema que hace referencia a la relación del hablante con el tiempo.

Both of those were taken from here:

[link]http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=1579

Also take a look at this thread:

[link]http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=300199

I don't think I'll ever understand all the subtle nuances of Ser and Estar.

I think you're right about regional differences but come one don't give up - we can get this! je je :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 7

Now I'm hitting the infamous wall!!

The first guy says his native Spanish speaking teacher says it should be Ser, the other guy, who is a native speaker himself, says it should be Estar.

And the question still stands firmly like a lion, ser or estar??

this might help :) http://www.spanishgrammargenius.com/ser_estar_interchangeable.htm - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 8

I wonder if someone more advanced could answer.

Answer 9

Hum, I was going to say it would be ser because it's a description, and the imperfect era because it goes on being good. You could be right though.

I think you're right, it should be Ser. - SpanishPal, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 10

I would say la película fue buena.

I'm still learning too, let's see what more experienced Spanish learners will say.

Answer 11

I always have such a difficult time with this and seeing all of this about it makes me feel so much better to know it isn't just me.

Answer 12

Thanks everyone! I'm very grateful for all the feedback, even if not as straightforward as I'd hoped!

Answer 13

Google search of:

• "La película fue buena" = 20,700 hits
• "La película estuvo buena" = 14,000 hits

So there.

While interesting, it doesn't prove anything, because Google does not take context into account, nor does it distinguish between what may be an incorrect usage of the verb. - rodneyp, Jul 13, 2011

Answer 14

Yoo hoo! Lazarus ......

Answer 15

"fue" is the seccond person singular preterit of the verb ser.

Generally you would use ser, to describe an innate quality of the movie, however you might use estar to describe your enjoyment of the movie present or past tense

Past tense of estar is estuvo and imperfect past tense estaba.

Depending on what you are trying to communicate, either could be used.

La pelicula fue muy bien. (The movie was innately good)

La pelicula estuvo muy bien (The movie was good once)

La pelicula estaba muy bien (The movie was good many times indicating repeat enjoyment)

In Spanish, verb conjugations are very important and by choosing or changing them communicates allot.

estuvo :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

correct seccond person form - coolclay, Jul 13, 2011

"a lot" even... :) - cristalino, Jul 13, 2011

I looked that up in a dictionary .. "allot" is fine "a lot" could communicate something entirely different. - coolclay, Jul 13, 2011

not sure if i'm feeling the love here - coolclay, Jul 13, 2011

lol - well we certainly aren't being paid to help so it must be love je je :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011

have to agree with Cristalino though it's definitely 'a lot' two words - allot means to give out or apportion :) - Kiwi-Girl, Jul 13, 2011