Help with eran or fueron

Question

Which one is correct, eran or fueron in the sentence: blank las tres de la manana y la cuidad...?

eran - Rey_Mysterio, Oct 10, 2014

A please and thank you would be nice ;) :) - FELIZ77, Oct 11, 2014

when you post the question. Please remember that people here volunteer to help you out of the goodness of their hearts they are not paid! - FELIZ77, Oct 11, 2014

Answer 1

With time in the past, it is always era/eran.

Eran las tres de la mañana....

Gracias amigo! - annierats, Oct 10, 2014

Thanks for the clarification. I didn't know that. - gringojrf, Oct 10, 2014

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 11, 2014

Answer 2

Hello Lhughes,

Welcome to the SpanishDict forum

You asked:

Which one is correct, eran or fueron in the sentence: blank las tres de la manana y la cuidad...?

Tosh is right! It is definitely the imperfect: era/eran and in this case eran which comes from the verb ser

Eran las tres de la semana y la ciudad. (iu not ui I used to spell it incorrectly, too!)

In Barrons' 501 Spanish verbs, the authors: Christopher and Theodore Kendris, confirm this and state,

This tense is used, therefore to express:

(e) The time of day in the past

1 ¿Qué hora es? = What time is it?

2 Eran las tres = It was three (3) o 'clock.

I hope this helps

:) - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 11, 2014

THank yu, Kiwi :) - FELIZ77, Oct 11, 2014

Answer 3

Why plural ? Why not 'era' ? Please

Era for la una, eran for plural numbers, just like you say 'son las ...' in the present tense. - Kiwi-Girl, Oct 11, 2014

Answer 4

Tosh says with time it's always 'era/n'. Would 'fue el tiempo' be wrong ?

Answer 5

Interesting question. My first thought was eran as the sentence seems to be "setting the scene" for the second clause. But then because the time is specific and a point in time fueron seems to work as well.

But I think I will stick with eran, so that must be wrong. lol