Tell Me, Who Was Tall?

Introduction

This post is about verb conjugation -the imperfect tense, indicative mood of irregular verb ser.

SCENARIO

Imagine you are talking to relatives, friends or colleagues about what you all were like when you were young. At some point, someone says: "tell me, who was tall?".

In Spanish, the other person could choose to be less formal and say:

Dime, ¿quién era alto?

On the other hand, he/ she could choose to be more formal and say:

Dígame, ¿quién era alto?

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OUR TIP

Answering should be straightforward, but remember:

• Use ser (not estar) in your answer.
• Make sure that you conjugate your verb correctly
• Choose between formal or familiar options to suit the occasion -see examples below.

Typical answers could be:

• Yo era^* bastante alto (I was quite tall);
• Tú eras^* muy alto, ¿no? (you -familiar were very tall, weren't you?);
• Usted era^* muy alto, ¿no? (you -formal were very tall, weren't you?);
• Pedro era^* alto (Pedro was tall);
• María era^* alta (Maria was tall);
• Todos mis amigos y yo éramos^* altos (all my friends and I were tall);
• Vosotros erais^* todos altos, ¿no? (you -familiar/ plural were all tall, weren't you?);
• Ustedes eran^* todos altos, ¿no? (you -formal/ plural were all tall, weren't you?);
• Pedro y María eran^* altos (Pedro and María were tall);

Now you should practise replying to someone who says to you:

Dime, ¿quién era alto?

*Please see grammar topic below, Verbs

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Verbs

A verb is a 'doing' word which conveys:

• What action takes place in a sentence
• Who does that action
• When that action occurs.

In addition, the verb may also convey the mood or feelings of the speaker toward the action which takes place. The verb may, for example, indicate whether the speaker is stating a fact, expressing a wish or indeed giving an order.

Irregular Verbs

Verb: ser

The Spanish verb ser is irregular^* in some tenses, as shown in the table below:

Tense	Mood	Regular	Irregular
Present	Indicative		✓
Imperfect	Indicative		✓
Preterite	Indicative		✓
Future	Indicative	✓
Conditional	Indicative	✓
Perfect	Indicative	✓
Pluperfect	Indicative	✓
Future Perfect	Indicative	✓
Conditional Perfect	Indicative	✓
Present	Subjunctive		✓
Imperfect	Subjunctive		✓
Perfect	Subjunctive	✓
Pluperfect	Subjunctive	✓
	Imperative		✓

* NB:

• Conjugate tenses in the regular column the same as other regular verbs ending in -er
• The imperfect tense conjugation/ indicative mood is shown below

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Indicative Mood/ Imperfect Tense - Conjugation

Verb: ser

Subject		SER (TO BE)
I	Yo	ERA
You	Tú	ERAS
You	Usted*	ERA
He	Él
She	Ella
We	Nosotros	ÉRAMOS
You	Vosotros**	ERAIS
You	Ustedes***	ERAN
They	Ellos
They	Ellas

*NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you'

**NB 'You' plural

*** NB More courteous/ polite form of 'you' plural

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Verb Conjugation Notes

It is worth remembering once more that in its basic form (infinitive), a Spanish verb is just a general 'doing' word. In that form, a verb simply indicates an action and nothing else. If we want a verb to be more specific about the action in a sentence, we need to conjugate it. It is only when conjugated that the verb indicates:

• Who does the action
• When the action takes place
• The mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action

The conjugation tables above refer to using conjugation to establish who does the action. What follows below are some notes on establishing when the action takes place and the mood/ attitude of the speaker towards the action.

Subjunctive Mood

The use of subjunctive mood is disappearing English. Nowadays is often viewed as an old and unfashionable form of the language.

In contrast, the use of subjunctive mood is very much alive and in everyday use in Spanish. This widespread use of subjunctive mood tends to be the bane of many a learner of Spanish from the English speaking world.

The concept of subjunctive mood is perhaps best illustrated by contrasting its use against the use of indicative mood with examples in English. The following are a couple of examples which should serve that purpose:

• Indicative mood (“Peter eats an apple”).- Indicative mood is commonly used to make statements of facts or positive beliefs such as this one. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes above), the speaker makes a clear and unambiguous statement of a fact (Peter eats an apple).
• Subjunctive mood (“Peter would eat an apple if he were hungry”).- In contrast with indicative mood, subjunctive mood is commonly used to make statements indicating hypothetical or non-fact actions. As can be seen in the sample sentence (in quotes), in this case the speaker sees the action of eating an apple as something hypothetical, something which may or may not happen (Peter would eat an apple... if he were hungry).

Verb Tenses

Verb tenses relate to setting the time period (when) during which the action of the verb takes place. Basic times (periods) for Spanish verb actions are:

• The past (before now)
• The present (now)
• The future (after now)

Each Spanish verb tense corresponds to one of those basic time periods. In other words choosing a verb tense places the action of the verb in one of those basic periods and determines when the action takes place.

Now you should practise the use of the imperfect tense of the irregular verb ser with some examples of your own.

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