Estar o Ser, Preterite o imperfect?

Question

"During the strict years under the autocratic regime of General Francisco Franco many newspapers were tightly controlled in Spain."

Do you use Eran, fueron, estaban or estuvieron? And why?

I think it is imperfect as it happened more than once and Ser so Eran? Am I correct?

Thank you

Answer 1

I agree 100% on the imperfect use there. It's a habitual action.

Now the question is ser vs. estar here. Since it's a description, I'd go with ser.

I am not a native, however, so please wait for some more answers.

If you have any other questions of the preterit vs. imperfect/ser vs. estar, be sure to check out our reference pages on them!

Preterit

Imperfect

Ser vs. Estar

You can also put yourself to the test on preterit, imperfect, and ser vs estar: Click here for quizzes on the preterit, imperfect, ser vs. estar, and much more

Answer 2

Depends of the context, as far as preterite or imperfect goes.

Can be either ser or estar.

Can you guess why?