Answers
Apr 07, 2014 - 06:11 PM
The uses of FUE vs. ESTUVE would (should) be the same as when we choose between using SER and ESTAR..... ie. innate quality vs. location as Sonia would say. The real killer, and a very dirty trick I might add, is that the Spanish gods decided to make the conjugations of the verbs IR and SER identical in the Preterit Tense (past) . I know!!! What were they thinking? Therefore FUE can mean either (s)he/it) went or (s)he/it) was! I'm looking in my Barron's Spanish Grammar right now, hoping that I have overlooked an accent mark or some other differentiating sign from above. But no. It would seem that we are left to the vagaries of "context" to tell us whether the meaning is "he was" or "he went". In either case, the choice is simple... FUE.
Apr 07, 2014 - 10:35 PM
Say it in the present tense to help you.
What sounds better? "Es facil porque tenemos un mapa muy bueno" or "Está facil porque tenemos un mapa"? In this case es facil is correct, so it will be "fue". Now if you say something like "el trabajo es facil" vs "el trabajo está facil", the first one sounds like the work is easy and that's it, but the second one sounds like "the work is currently easy" (not finish, in process). The first one in the past would be "el trabajo fue facil" (the work was easy, it's done), vs "el trabajo estuvo facil" the work was easy (so far).
What sounds better? "Es facil porque tenemos un mapa muy bueno" or "Está facil porque tenemos un mapa"? In this case es facil is correct, so it will be "fue". Now if you say something like "el trabajo es facil" vs "el trabajo está facil", the first one sounds like the work is easy and that's it, but the second one sounds like "the work is currently easy" (not finish, in process). The first one in the past would be "el trabajo fue facil" (the work was easy, it's done), vs "el trabajo estuvo facil" the work was easy (so far).
Apr 08, 2014 - 06:14 PM
thanks, that helps