Era and Fue Inquiry

Question

What would be the correct way of saying "the vacation was great"? Would I use era or fue?

Please fill in the part of your profile about language. Thanks. - rac1, Aug 13, 2014

Answer 1

No, because in Spanish vacations are normally expressed in the plural.

Normally I would choose fueron, because it is one, and over.

Las vacaciones fueron... The vacation was.

I could picture some cases where you would choose eran.

Las vacaciones de mi niñez en la playa siempre eran muy divertidas.

My childhood vacations at the beach always (were/used to be) very fun.

In this case I am talking about a recurring event.

I am an intermediate level learner, and preterite vs. imperfect of ser is very difficult, so wait for confirmation.

wow this is an explanation worthy of a Spanish teacher Bosque - 003e54f5, Aug 13, 2014

Well, if Pablo agres, then I think we have confirmation. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 13, 2014

Great post, Bosque :) - FELIZ77, Aug 13, 2014

My only comment, and this is not a criticism but an obseravtion: In UK we would say My childhood holidays at the beach were always great fun (not very fun) We would also say very enjoyable. I guess this is just a cultural difference to the - FELIZ77, Aug 13, 2014

use of language. :) - FELIZ77, Aug 13, 2014

changed the first sentence to more accurately reflect reality. - bosquederoble, Aug 15, 2014

great explanation! - SpanishSkypeorg, Aug 15, 2014

Gracias. :) - bosquederoble, Aug 15, 2014

Answer 2

I agree 100 % with Bosque's great post! . The word holiday is used in the plural in Spanish: vacaciones. I would use the preterite fuereon: Las vacaciones fueron estupendos/fantásticos. =The holidays were great.

I would add that either the preterite: fueron or eran could be used in different contexts but with differences of meaning ...these differences would be subtle.

The example given by Bosque using the imperfect is very good!

I hope this helps

Answer 3

Perdón janmelgar contesto acá porque no entraba (asumo que hablas en español):

Definitivamente "vacaciones" es plural y es probable que no lo encuentres en ningún diccionario porque justamente esta en plural. En Wikipedia vas a encontrar la definición como "vacaciones" aunque aclara que es el plural de "vacación". La gente no es que lo "toma como correcto" sino que es correcto decirlo de esa manera. Mas allá de eso supongo que decir "vacación" es algo muy puntual de alguna/s región/es, estuve buscando y no pude encontrar donde dicen así. Creo que es de mas ayuda enseñar como "vacaciones" ya que seguramente a lo largo de su vida lo va a escuchar de esa manera.

Gracias, Pablo - biengracias, Aug 15, 2014

Pero si la misma RAE te esta diciendo que es un periodo de tiempo(dias o semanas juntas) donde permaneces lejos de tu trabajo o quehaceres cotidianos. Entonces si digo vacaciones entonces me estoy refieriendo a que tome un par de dias aqui, luego volvi, - juanmelgar, Aug 18, 2014

a trabajar, y luego tomo mas vacacion. Enfoquese en el significado y luego de alli llegue a sus conclusiones. Eso es lo que yo hago. - juanmelgar, Aug 18, 2014

It's Juanmelgar, not Janmelgar! - juanmelgar, Aug 18, 2014

Answer 4

I disagree with the assertion that the word is plural. If I am talking about the week I was off work and took my vacation time. I usually use the singular. -Como estuvo tu vacación? Estuve muy bien.

-Ya me aburrí de tanto trabajar. Creo que me tomaré mi vacacion.

Plus, the definition that RAE.es gives us of this word is in singular form: Vacación: A temporary break from regular activities, such as work or studies.

I think saying "vacaciones" is a more popular definition and so widely used that some have taken it as the correct form of saying it. Ah one more thing, if you look for the word "vacaciones" in any dictionary, including the RAE dictionary, you WILL NOT find it.

Thank you for your clarification- I had always seen it plural, but I am not a native speaker. - bosquederoble, Aug 15, 2014

I really would like where you are from to know where it's used "vacación". I´m from Spain, I live in Mexico and I lived in another Central America countries and I never hear "vacación". I´m curious about that, I lke learning this kind of things since I´m - SpanishSkypeorg, Aug 15, 2014

since I'm a teacher. Gracias. - SpanishSkypeorg, Aug 15, 2014

But according to RAE "vacación" is used in plural: (Del lat. vacatĭo, -ōnis).1. f. Descanso temporal de una actividad habitual, principalmente del trabajo remunerado o de los estudios. U. m. en pl.2. f. Tiempo que dura la cesación del trabajo. U. m. en pl - SpanishSkypeorg, Aug 15, 2014

spasky en mi vida escuche decir a alguien 'vacación' también estoy intrigado de saber de donde es - 003e54f5, Aug 15, 2014

well, you haven't been around much then Pablo064. To me, when people say 'vacaciones" I think they are referring to their "dias de vacaciones." - juanmelgar, Aug 18, 2014

Answer 5

This is very interesting, like everyone else, I have only heard the word vacaciones, but a google search will confirm that vacación is used, and not just in pretty pictures.

Others have asked the same question, but I wasn't able to find an explanation of why the the word is always used in plural. But I did find the below, and the poster is from Ecuador.

vacación/vacaciones?

Depende... Tengo un dia de vacacion. Estoy de vacaciones.

Yo diría que si me refiero a un día que voy a tener libre digo "vacación": Mañana tengo vacación (por que es simplemente un día) Pero si me refiero a varios dias, digamos una semana utilizo "vacaciones": Toda la proxima semana voy a estar de vacaciones.

Espero haberte ayudado un poco.

That's the best I could do. It would be nice to know why the singular is rarely used though.

Lastly I'll leave you with some examples I found in Google:

Qué tal estuvo tu vacación?

¿describirme como fue tu vacación mas memorable?

desde que estoy jubilada estoy en vacación continua

453 muertes en vacación en todo el istmo

Great post Rodneye, that would explain the differences of opinion. It may be that Spanish natives (ie from Sain) only use the word in its plural form ...I will have to check wth my native Spanish tutor, I cannot remember seeing it in its singular form - FELIZ77, Aug 16, 2014

before or if I had done when I was less experienced I might have wrongly assumed it was an error ! - FELIZ77, Aug 16, 2014

good job rodney the Spanish is a rare language and if someday I hear someone to say "vacacion", I will ask a wish lol - 003e54f5, Aug 16, 2014

Excellent Rodney! A picture is worth a thousand words, as they say. - juanmelgar, Aug 18, 2014