how do you use era?

Question

how is era different from fue

Answer 1

To be honest this answer is more to remind myself than to help you, because I always get this stuff mixed up.

Estar.

Estuve - Preterit

Estaba - Imperfect

Ser.

Fue -Preterit

Era - Imperfect

I have it written it in loads of different places to help me remember and I still had to look it up to tell you!

a little aid might be that fue/era and ser all have three letters :) - Kiwi-Girl, Sep 5, 2011

Thanks Kiwi girl! That's brilliant! - rabbitwho, Sep 5, 2011

Answer 2

This might help Fue or Era especially from 1.27 onwards (the beginning bit is just the conjugation of ser)

Answer 3

"Era" is used when you recreate (or simply create) a moment (real or imaginary) that you'd describe with "es" (present tense). "Fue", on the other hand, rather than recreating, encompasses the totality of a past event.

Ya entiendo el preterito mejor. Gracias :) - Felixlynx, Sep 4, 2011