Estar can be confusing in Spanish when used in the past because there are 2 different Spanish past tenses: the preterite and the imperfect. Estar is used to describe temporary states, emotions, or conditions. Estar in the imperfect describes ongoing or repeated actions or conditions in the past whereas estar in the preterite is used for situations that were temporary but occurred at a specific moment. Both past forms emphasize temporary states, but the preterite indicates a clear beginning or end, while the imperfect suggests continuity or habitual actions. Follow along with us as we learn the conjugations, reasons why we use each tense, and plenty of examples to dominate them.
Link to our video on SER in the past tense:
https://youtu.be/SVJW62UtClI
Link to our video on Ser AND Estar in the past tense:
https://youtu.be/OoxoerBxbXk
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Video Chapters
00:00 First Examples and Introduction
01:37 How to conjugate Estar
02:50 How to use Estar in the Imperfect Tense (estaba)
05:35 How to use Estar in the Imperfect Tense (estuvo)
07:32 Should we use estaba or estuvo?
09:05 When both estaba AND estuvo are correct!