era/eras/era/éramos/eran

Imperfect of Ser

Level 2

Use era, eras, etc., to describe what someone or something was like in the past.

How It Works

The imperfect of ser is one of the basic irregular imperfect patterns, alongside ir and ver. It's used to talk about what things were like in the past in a descriptive, ongoing way.

Conjugation:

  • yo era ➜ I was
  • tú eras ➜ you were
  • él/ella/usted era ➜ he/she/you (formal) were
  • nosotros/as éramos ➜ we were
  • vosotros/as erais ➜ you all (informal, chiefly Spain) were
  • ellos/ellas/ustedes eran ➜ they/you all were

Common Uses:
1. Descriptions: To describe people, places, and things in the past.
La casa era antigua pero muy bonita. (The house was old but very pretty.)

2. Identity & Profession: To state what someone's job or role was.
Mi madre era profesora. (My mother was a teacher.)

3. Time & Dates: To tell the time or date in the past.
Eran las cinco de la tarde. (It was five in the afternoon.)

4. Relationships: To describe relationships between people.
Ellos eran buenos amigos. (They were good friends.)

This contrasts with the preterite of ser (fue), which is used for completed events or to define something within a specific, finished timeframe.

Vos uses eras in the common voseo pattern. Choosing era rather than fue concerns aspect: era views a past state from within, while fue can sum it up as a whole. A profession need not have lasted a long time to use era, and a known date does not rule it out.

Ser and estar are not divided by permanent versus temporary. Era alta describes height as a characteristic; estaba alta can describe someone as noticeably tall relative to a reference point, such as their earlier height. Context can also make rubia with estar a description of appearance. For event location, ser is normal: La reunión era en el salón.

Examples (5)

  1. Cuando yo era niño, era muy tímido.

    When I was a child, I was very shy.

    Word by Word: When I was child, was very shy.

    Era describes being a child and being shy from within that past period. The imperfect does not imply that the period’s dates are unknowable.

  2. Mi abuelo era carpintero.

    My grandfather was a carpenter.

    Word by Word: My grandfather was carpenter.

    Era describes his profession from a past viewpoint without foregrounding its boundaries. The sentence does not state how long he held that job.

  3. Eran las diez de la noche cuando sonó el teléfono.

    It was ten o'clock at night when the phone rang.

    Word by Word: Were the ten of the night when rang the telephone.

    'Eran' is used to set the scene by telling the time in the past.

  4. La ciudad era más pequeña en ese entonces.

    The city was smaller back then.

    Word by Word: The city was more small in that then.

    Describing a characteristic of the city in the past.

  5. Nosotros éramos los únicos que hablábamos español.

    We were the only ones who spoke Spanish.

    Word by Word: We were the only ones that spoke Spanish.

    'Éramos' describes a state or condition in the past: our status as the only Spanish speakers.

Common Mistakes

  • Intended viewpoint: describing the dog’s characteristic from within the speaker’s childhood, rather than summing it up as a whole.

    Cuando yo era niño, mi perro fue muy juguetón.
    Cuando yo era niño, mi perro era muy juguetón.

    Era gives the intended background description. Fue can be grammatical with a bounded summary reading; it does not necessarily mean one brief occasion. Cuando yo era niño clearly identifies whose childhood is meant.

  • Intended meaning: a neutral description of her past characteristics, without a contextual comparison or changed-appearance reading.

    Ella estaba alta y rubia.
    Ella era alta y rubia.

    Era alta y rubia gives the intended characteristic description. Estaba can be grammatical with a contextual appearance or comparison reading, so the alternative is not universally wrong. Duration alone does not select ser or estar.

How It Connects

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era/eras/era/éramos/eranLevel 2Imperfect of Ser

Learn This First

To understand the imperfect forms of 'ser' (era, eras, etc.), you first need to be familiar with the verb's identity-based meaning in the present tense. You also need to understand how Spanish subject pronouns correspond to verb endings and have a basic concept of the imperfect tense used for descriptions and habits in the past.

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