"While I was in spain"

Question

Should I be using estar or ser? This was only a temporary holiday so I'm assuming preterite since it had a clear start and end. Could be imperfect though, I suppose.

Estaba en España?

I'm assuming if I was describing skin colour, it would be "era blanco" as this is more permanent.

To bypass all of this I could just say: "Durante mis vacaciones en España"

I think your bypass is fine, I would do the same. - annierats, Oct 24, 2012

Answer 1

You are describing a place, so you need to use estar. So you can say:

Cuando estaba en España

Mientras estaba en España.

One trick I teach my students to remember when trying to decide to use estar or ser is to substitute the verb "to be" for "to find oneself"... If that makes sense in English, then you should use estar.

In your example, if you say: "While I found myself in Spain" then you can use estar without a problem.

Why not "cuando estuve en España"? I don't understand why you would use the imperfect when the holiday had a fixed start and end point. - lol768, Oct 24, 2012

In that case, Cuando estuve en España is the better choice. I was not paying attention to the conjugation but rather to the choice between ser and estar. - francobollo, Oct 24, 2012

Could I then argue that ser should be used, as it describes events and things which take place in time? http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/servsestar.html - lol768, Oct 24, 2012

Although that page does state "location of people" to be estar, rather than ser. - lol768, Oct 24, 2012

I would never say Era en España to mean I was in Spain. - francobollo, Oct 24, 2012

Answer 2

Literally, it would be "Mientras estaba en España". But "Durante mis vacaciones en España" is also great and conveys the same message, though you are adding that you were on vacations, something that in your first sentence "While I was in Spain" the word "vacation" is missing.

Holidays are mentioned.. - annierats, Oct 24, 2012