What is the difference between the following two Spanish sentences?

Question

Hi everyone,

What is the difference between "La reacción fue rápida." vs "La reacción era rápida."? Gracias de antemano.

Answer 1

Well fue is the preterite of ser and era is the imperfect of ser.

Since the reaction was rapid, thus occurred at a point in time, fue seems to be the better choice to me. The imperfect is for things that happen over time or are not completed.

But wait for a native.

That's a very good explanation. :) - 003492fc, Aug 15, 2013

Both are OK, but dependent on context. Re-read what atxeko wrote and supply context to satisfy both versions. Use a young gunman an an old one. ;) - chileno, Aug 16, 2013

Thank you for your answers! They are very helpful. Atxeko, your English is fine too. My only suggestion is perhaps to change "I hope this helped" to "I hope this helps" as you are talking about the present. Saludos! - swiss003, Aug 16, 2013

Answer 2

[Feel free to correct my English, please]

Hello swiss003,

"La reacción fue rápida" is in Past Perfect. The reaction started and ended. And it was fast.

"La reacción era rápida"" is in Imperfect Tense. It is used to indicate a customary or repeated action or state in the past. Or an opposition to the present. For example:

"Hace años, la reacción era rápida. Ahora no lo es." (Many years ago, it used to be fast, now it is not.)

I hope this helped.

I like the explanation of something that has changed. I used to be fast but no longer is. Thanks. - gringojrf, Aug 16, 2013