"Fue responsable de" or, "era responsable de"?

Question

I should know this. I have studied Spanish for years to the point where pret vs. imperf comes naturally to me. However, any information that I find states that saying someone was responsible for something translates as: él/ ella/ Ud. era responsable de...

Why wouldn't it be "fue responsable de ___"? This just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe the logic is that we are unsure of the timeframe for which the subject was held responsible?

Why should you know it? Thee is no logic, no snese, one has to know everything without having a clue.. - annierats, Dec 18, 2014

I like this discussion. Thanks for your post! - Jubilado, Dec 19, 2014

Answer 1

I am not sure why you would say that you can’t use “fue responsible de” to refer to someone who was responsible for something but now that responsibility is over, and you want to make that clear.

Here are linguee examples:
http://www.linguee.es/espanol-ingles/traduccion/fue+responsable+de.html

One example from the link:

Gazexport fue responsable de las ventas de exportación durante la mayor parte del período de investigación.

Gazexport was responsible for the export sales during most of the investigation period.

I agree. Here you have context that boxes in the timeframe so it is clear that it began and ended in the past. Context is important. - gringojrf, Dec 18, 2014

Exactly, as you note, era will be the most usual, but the choice will depend on the context and the message that is trying to be sent. :) - bosquederoble, Dec 18, 2014

But the person asking the question made it sound like "fue" could never be used there. - bosquederoble, Dec 18, 2014

Answer 2

My guess, and it is only that is as follows:

You become responsible for something at a certain point in time but that responsibility continues over an indefinite time going forward.

He was responsible for the accident. He will always be responsible for the accident. Thus imperfect.

That truly does make sense... hmm I've never thought of it in that sense. Thanks! - kgotw405, Dec 18, 2014

Eres una estrella, Gringo. - annierats, Dec 18, 2014

Thanks Annie, eventhough it is not true. - gringojrf, Dec 18, 2014

Answer 3

As always with this subject of perfect, imperfect and the not so perfect....context will determine what to use.

He and everybody else know it was his fault. Now consider the following:

He is willing to be punished in whatever way his boss sees fit as long as he is not fired, after all he was the one who committed the mistake. -- fue

A guy is to be blamed for something that happened at the office. Nobody knows for sure who dunnit, but this guy is to be blamed.

He is not willing to accept the blame but he knew he was the one to be blamed. -- era (the fall guy)

Would that explain to the OP what he's asking?