fui v. era

Can anyone help me understand the difference between the past tenses of ser, por ejemplo, ¿Cuál es la differéncia entre yo fui y yo era ?

Hola NornB6,

The preterit is used with a completed action, something that ended. The immperfect is used with something that was ongoing. Ayer (yo) fui el ganador en el concurso. Yesterday I was the winner in the contest. Cuando (yo) era joven jugaba beisbol. When I was young I played baseball. You were young over an ongoing period and during that time you played baseball. Hope this helps.

Saludos,

Ricardo

¡Hola NormB6 y ricardo-rich!

Just to add on to Ricardo's explanation: if you're having trouble deciding when you should use el pretérito “the preterite” and el imperfecto “the imperfect” in general, NormB6, then you might find the explanation under the heading “Which Past Tense Should You Use?” in Lesson 10.6 helpful! It takes you through exactly how these two tenses differ, and when you should use each one.

Saludos,

Liss