ESTABA or ESTUVO | HOW to use ESTAR in the PAST tense

[@anytimeespanol]

Si este video te ayudó, compranos un café 😊 www.buymeacoffee.com/anytimeespanol

[@edgarpayne8673]

@@anytimeespanol Cuándo tengo feria extra, claro que si! Hacen buen vídeos por lo que he viste. Espero que sean felices ❤️

[@anytimeespanol]

@@edgarpayne8673 acabo de ver este mensaje y me dio risa tu buena vibra. Muchas gracias! 🙌 unas pequeñas correcciones para ayudarte: "Cuando tenga feria extra, claro que sí. Hacen buenos vídeos por lo que he visto."

[@JohnKaman]

I have been floundering in Spanish for a year but your videos are the best explanation of usage that I have found.

[@anytimeespanol]

Wow! That's so great to hear. Thank you for commenting and letting us know! Is there any topic in Spanish you're particularly struggling with? 👍🏻

[@JohnKaman]

Speaking. Not good at that.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@JohnKaman It's difficult in the first year! I started just by constantly talking out loud to myself at home. After, I found language partners on facebook, tandem, and italki

[@bobbyboombeck]

Tu canal es el mejor! Estoy aprendiendo mucho con tus videos!

[@anytimeespanol]

¡Muchísimas gracias! Nos da mucho gusto que nuestros videos te hayan servido 😎🙌🏻👍🏻

[@christal-clear4505]

I agree with Christopher, good explanation of the difference, thanks (subscribing 👍🏽)

[@anytimeespanol]

@@christal-clear4505 ¡muchas gracias! 🙌🏻👍🏻😊

[@ChristopherMurtagh]

Wow, I can say that after watching a lot of videos on the difference between imperfect and preterite tenses, this is by far the best explanation I have seen to date. Subscribing!

[@anytimeespanol]

@ChristopherMurtagh woohoo!! Haha so glad to hear that. Thank you for the comment!!

[@tvinht1]

Great video! I’ve struggled with understanding the differences and your explanations cleared up everything. Thanks so much! Keep sharing your awesome videos.

[@anytimeespanol]

Wow, thank you so much for the comment! Glad we could help 🙃🙌👍

[@NJgirl4eva89]

Me encantan todos los ejemplos. Hacen cosas muy claras. Gracias por compartir

[@anytimeespanol]

Gracias por tu comentario. Nos da gusto que te haya encantado 🙌👍

[@aliyasharma8425]

🎉❤Sir, Yo soy de india 😢😢I feel difficulties in direct and direct things los la lo la etc are very confusing 😢😢

[@anytimeespanol]

Hello! We've made videos on the topic you're having trouble with, and you can check them out with these links here 👍🏻🙌🏻 kzbin.info/www/bejne/p2nMnXpqeN6Cis0 kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZ_UpZmFbtymf8U kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXaTg2h3eKyoe80

[@everydayadventure66]

Outstanding job guys! You cleared up several questions. Love the little quizzes and examples.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@everydayadventure66 thank you!! I think we just make these videos for you and me! 🤭😆🙌👍

[@chrisrobinsontv8491]

Really helpful

[@anytimeespanol]

@chrisrobinsontv8491 thanks so much for commenting! We're glad it was useful 🙌🏻👍🏻😎

[@edgarpayne8673]

Me alegro que enseñen a nosotros. Buena explicación ❤

[@anytimeespanol]

Muchas gracias por tu comentario. Nos da gusto! 😎👍🙌 Una pequeña corrección, suena mejor decir *Me alegro que nos enseñen*

[@viewfrom13]

¡Qué bueno! Very helpful, thank you!

[@anytimeespanol]

You're welcome! Glad we could help 👍🙌

[@clementekpo7606]

Y'all explained this so well 👌🏼

[@anytimeespanol]

@@clementekpo7606 thank you so much for the comment, glad we could help! 🙌👍

[@lilss2985]

My first time seeing your videos. Excellent explanation. Short and concise and in relatable sentences that I can remember. Thank you !

[@anytimeespanol]

@@lilss2985 you're welcome! Thank YOU so much for such a lovely comment 👍🙌

[@roobear5357]

thanks for the clarifying video! I like to know how big a deal it is when you make mistakes. My language partners in Mexico and Peru say “estaba” when it should be “estuvo” etc is not a big deal since they know what I mean. This lets me be more fluent with less worry about mistakes .So when teachers say “ you need to use x instead of y”, it would be nice to know if it’s a big deal or not if you don’t.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@roobear5357 I understand completely. And you're right, all mistakes are no big deal as long as the person understands what you mean, and normally the mistake is funny and you can both laugh at what you said. Darcy does this with me all the time!! Era vs fue and estaba vs estuvo are probably the most not a big deal erros but we always strive to speak correctly and get better 🙌👍

[@carolholmes5212]

Muy útil, gracias ambos. I will have to watch it a few times to let it sink in .( con esta cabeza, no es fácil)😂 Much appreciated. Gracias chicos .

[@anytimeespanol]

Jaja me siento igual aprendiendo este tema, ¡no es tan fácil! Ánimo, vas poco a poco. Nos da mucho gusto recibir tu comentario 🙌👍😎

[@readstorieslearnenglish]

A good explanation of something I’ve never fully understood. Thanks. (I think this helps me with French too, which is similar in this.)

[@anytimeespanol]

@readstorieslearnenglish that's great to hear, glad we could help! Thanks for commenting 👍🙌

[@barrieowen8207]

Excellent video, thoroughly put together and clearly explained. Thank you for your dedication your a great team. Barrie Owen UK.

[@anytimeespanol]

@barrieowen8207 thank you so much for the comment! Glad we could help 👍🙌

[@june007s]

I find your videos very interesting and helpful.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@june007s thank you for the comment! We're happy to hear they're helpful 🙌👍

[@cozartboy1573]

We need more vids from this channel super helpful

[@anytimeespanol]

@@cozartboy1573 Haha thanks for the comment! We put out new videos as soon as we can. Anything in particular you'd like to see or learn?

[@cozartboy1573]

@@anytimeespanol probably some effective methods to train your ears to listen to Spanish since the language is spoken at a fast pace 😂👀

[@anytimeespanol]

@@cozartboy1573 we'll see what we can do 🙌👍

[@anytimeespanol]

@cozartboy1573 We just published a video based off your request! Check it out here! kzbin.info/www/bejne/rHK6qGmPeaiehrs

[@amerikawoche8243]

“Learned” this a long time ago in high school. All I remember (besides the conjugations which were drilled into our heads) was a simple drawing showing a straight line up & down, for the preterite, and a wave flowing into it from the left side for the imperfect. I could understand HS physics ok, but this was nigh impossible. :) Thanks for setting me straight all these years later.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@amerikawoche8243 haha I'm pretty sure I was taught the same thing. 😆🤭 I'm so glad we could make it clear 🙌👍

[@chrisslark3239]

Ignore all of the comments saying otherwise because this actually helped me figure out the difference. I tend to suffer from forgetting things with Spanish. In this case it’s more which is actually pretérito o imperfecto (estuvo and estaba respectively?) So I understand this now, after these videos but then in a few months I will forget it again! Definitely a great help with some good descriptions and examples. Thanks.

[@anytimeespanol]

@chrisslark3239 thanks for the comment! I'm always forgetting too 🤦🏻‍♂️ and then re-learning. Spanish doesn't come easy to everyone, certainly not to me. Thanks for the support

[@andres0584]

Es cuestión de práctica y de escuchar hablar a nativos muy a menudo. Si buscas la app de RTVE te puede ser muy útil (para español de España o castellano). Para español latino, no sabría decirte.

[@KennethFeatley-qn6mr]

Fantastic! That explanation really helped me understand this confusing topic.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@KennethFeatley-qn6mr thank you!! So glad we could help 😎👍🙌

[@jacqueline7093]

I loved your videos better 😊. I watched them repeatedly as usually when I learn something, in a few days I'll forget it 😢. Yo pensé qué "the pool" is la piscina. Where is la alberca usually used?

[@anytimeespanol]

@jacqueline7093 thanks for commenting! 😊 La piscina is another word for "the pool", you are correct. We teach Mexican Spanish and you'll hear "la alberca" and "la piscina" in different parts of Mexico, but in Mexico city we hear more la alberca. 👍🏻🙌🏻☺️

[@mkoschara]

Thank you. This was very helpful.

[@anytimeespanol]

@@mkoschara you're welcome! Thank you for commenting! 👍🙌

[@jdsmith8352]

Este video es muy informativo, gracias!

[@anytimeespanol]

¡De nada! Gracias por comentar 🙌👍

[@schumannator]

great video! thank you

[@anytimeespanol]

@schumannator thanks so much for commenting 👍🙌

[@marykayvann]

Thanks!

[@anytimeespanol]

Thank YOU! 👍🙌

[@TheOmfg02]

Great video, very clear, perfect format!

[@anytimeespanol]

@TheOmfg02 thank you so much for the comment! So glad we could help 👍🙌

[@TheOmfg02]

@@anytimeespanol yeah it was really good! I like that you guys dig into the implied contextual meaning of both! It helped so much to know that estuvo has more of a time aspect to it and so in some contexts it would imply the food was good in that specific instance or that the building is perhaps not there any more. Keep up the good work! Love you guys

[@ecwadorlife667]

Great lesson! Minor correction in your English subtitles: “every day” is two words when it’s not an adjective. Very common error.

[@anytimeespanol]

@ecwadorlife667 yes, thank you!

[@andres0584]

Muy buen vídeo. Por puntualizar una cosa, habéis pronunciado "estabais" en el apartado de conjugación como si se acentuase en la última "a" (estabáis), cuando al menos en España el acento recae sobre la primera "a" (estábais). De todas formas, en ningún caso lleva tilde, según la RAE. ¡Un saludo!

[@anytimeespanol]

Muchas gracias por tu comentario. Sí, tienes toda la razón. Es que enseñamos español de México pero queremos agregar la forma vosotros para que nuestros estudiantes sepan que existe pero no lo pronunciamos bien porque no estamos acostumbrados 😉🙌🏻 Gracias por tu sugerencia y ayuda para otros estudiantes.

[@renetorry7654]

Thank you

[@anytimeespanol]

@@renetorry7654 you're welcome!! 🔥👍🙌

[@Soulpatrol-zu7ry]

Excellent video

[@anytimeespanol]

Thank you!! 😎👍🙌

[@NatalieLawrence]

Thank you for the time and effort you both put into this video. I don’t understand why the dancers being tired, in a complete sentence and without a time frame, is definitely “estaban”, but describing the restaurant as full, in a complete sentence and without a time frame, could be both. Can someone only feel something in the imperfect tense, when a timeframe hasn’t been set?

[@anytimeespanol]

@NatalieLawrence thank you so much for the comment. It all depends on what you want to express. Describing that they were tired without a time frame or if it's not important whether or not they still are, we use estaban (imperfect) If the point is to express that in some moment they were tired but that event is over and now they're no longer tired, we use estuvieron (preterite) Make sense? 🙂

[@NatalieLawrence]

@@anytimeespanol Ah yes, I understand now. Thank you for explaining, much appreciated!

[@johntanturri3290]

¡Los ambos a las dos! ¡Gracias!

[@anytimeespanol]

¡De nada! 🙌👍😎

[@ebrusker8155]

Gracias

[@anytimeespanol]

¡De nada! 🙌👍

[@davidwest5177]

this was great but could you please do SER🙏 LOL....just seen it was the previous video💥

[@anytimeespanol]

@@davidwest5177 😆😆 we got you!

[@parsa1noora2]

Hola. How do you say it was hot last night. It was a great day today. Gracias

[@anytimeespanol]

Hola! Gracias por tu pregunta. When describing temperature, we use the verb hacer Hace calor (it's hot) It was hot last night. Hacía calor anoche. For describing or characterizing things, we use ser It was a great day today. Fue un buen día hoy. 🙌🏻👍🏻

[@friendsforever9779]

Thank you! I still get confused when to use estar or ser in the past thou. In one video i remember you saying use ser for events, but in this video you use estar " yo estuve en la fiesta anoche". Surely a fiesta is an event?? Ayudarme por favor😢 gracias!!

[@anytimeespanol]

@@friendsforever9779 Fantastic question! You'll love this. Use estar for where YOU were (estuve en la fiesta anoche) and use ser for where the event was (la fiesta fue en la casa de mis papás) Make sense?

[@friendsforever9779]

@@anytimeespanol ah!!! Awesome! Makes sense now. U guys are awesome, thank u sooo much!!

[@anytimeespanol]

@@friendsforever9779 glad we could help! 😃

[@friendsforever9779]

​@@anytimeespanolcoffee on the way all the way from Australia!

[@anytimeespanol]

@@friendsforever9779 thank you!! 🙏

[@NickC0522]

Una pregunta, por qué ustedes no usan el pluscuamperfecto cuando hablan de 2 acciones en el pasado? Ustedes dijeron “estaba estudiando cuando me llamaste” pero “había estado estudiando cuando me llamaste” funciona también?

[@anytimeespanol]

Puedes usar las dos sí pero expresan cosas diferentes... Estaba estudiando cuando me llamaste. (I was studying when you called me.) Había estado estudiando cuando me llamaste. (I had been studying when you called me.) So, one expresses I was studying and the other I had been studying 👍

[@mhertzdeleon1146]

Pude decir Eramos en la casa cuando empezo a llover? O no?

[@anytimeespanol]

No, no podemos usar ser cuando hablamos de en dónde estámos. Sí usamos el imperfecto pero de estar Estaba en la casa

[@josedrullon]

I was not born in a spanish speaking country but I have some serious doubt about: "Nosotros estabamos muy ocupados ayer cuando se fue la luz." I would rather say: "Nosotros estabamos muy ocupados cuando se fue la luz" I remove the word ayer because it generally triggers the preterite. It does sound weird to say: estabamos muy ocupados ayer cuando se fue la luz. I would take my chance with: "Nosotros estuvimos muy ocupados ayer cuando se fue la luz" Why? Because the word ayer always triggers the preterit. How about: "Ayer estuvimos muy ocupados y; de repente se fue la luz"

[@anytimeespanol]

Thanks for the comment! First of all, remember that real life Spanish speaking will not be based on rules and it's 100% possible you could hear estaba ocupado ayer or estuvo ocupado ayer. Everyone makes mistakes in their own language sometimes, I know I do in English! Secondly, the rule is that if you're describing an ongoing action that gets interrupted it must be in the imperfect. So, if what you want to express is a description (estaba ocupado ayer) that was interrupted (cuando se fue la luz), you want to use the imperfect even if it feels weird because of the trigger word ayer. Think of estaba going more with cuando and not with ayer if that helps. Now if you're using ayer as a time reference expressing an event or a series of events that happened and are now considered over you would use the preterite. Estuvimos muy ocupados ayer (Completed action) y de repente se fue la luz (other completed action)

[@josedrullon]

@@anytimeespanol Thanks for replying.

[@gilbert_h]

❤❤

[@anytimeespanol]

😎🙌👍

[@ebrusker8155]

,entiendo

[@anytimeespanol]

¡Que bueno!

[@UnschoolingtheSpitz]

In Spain, when I finish a meal at a restaurant I have been corrected a number of times if I say, “Estuvo muy rico” and told to say, “Estaba muy rico “. The explanation I received was that when you say “estuvo” about a meal you just ate, it sounds like it happened in the distant past. Your thoughts?

[@anytimeespanol]

As we speak Mexican Spanish, we cannot comment on Spain Spanish and for that reason, one must become accustomed to the Spanish one wants to speak. Maybe in Spain, they would only ever use estaba. And of thats their custom, then that is the correct answer. However 😁, in general grammar of Spanish, estaba rico is more describing the food. Estuvo rico (a specific event that has finished) is more of your final opinion of how that specific food tasted. So, based on your example, if you finish a meal and you liked that specific meal, it would be "estuvo muy rico" 👍🙌 I hope that makes sense to you, let us know. In my personal experience, if any native person ever corrects you (with good intentions) it's because that's how people speak in that city, region, country (and isn't necessarily a rule of "Spanish")

[@UnschoolingtheSpitz]

@@anytimeespanol Thank you so much-very helpful videos!

[@marcelolima1452]

Great video but I was distracted by the plant she was wearing on her head!!!

[@anytimeespanol]

😆😅🤣😅😆 well we won't be filming there again! 🤦🏻‍♂️🤣😅

[@osoperezoso2608]

These grammar rules don't always apply. I suggest not tying the verbs to keywords or "rules" because that's just not how it works. For example, you can say "anoche" is a keyword for X because you can say "anoche, estaba en la fiesta y algo pasó..." It's not about a set time but rather what you want to say and how you want to say it.

[@anytimeespanol]

@osoperezoso2608 thanks for your comment and opinion. These "general" rules and exceptions help many people and we feel this is the best way to teach this very difficult topic. Can't please everyone and that's OK. We all learn differently. Looking forward to other helpful comments like this. Thanks again.🙌👍

[@chrisslark3239]

Again. The point here is to help people in a more general sense. Not everyone has mastered it all, and we need a good basis to step-off from. In the video they mention specifying the date or time frame, and then it becomes an interrupted action. So it’s not like they don’t cover the changing between imperfect and preterite.

[@anytimeespanol]

@chrisslark3239 thanks for the back-up 😃🙌

[@robertflint2549]

Sin ingles, por favor.

[@anytimeespanol]

En este canal, tenemos algunas lecciones en inglés y algunas en español. En los próximos meses, vamos a crear un Playlist de videos más avanzados donde solo hablamos en español 🙌👍

[@blueface456]

I wish you would just say estaba or estuvo. Saying imperfect and preterite makes it sound confusing. It takes my focus of the word and I want to locate the word not the " I am a college Graduate student who knows the definition of every word" explanation. I do not know what Imperfect or preterite even means. 😅

[@anytimeespanol]

Ok, we'll keep that in mind! Thanks for the comment 🙌👍

[@gregg06x]

@@anytimeespanolit was perfect. Imperfect and pretérito are the verb types and there are many more we have to learn. I wouldn’t change what you’re doing.

[@anytimeespanol]

@gregg06x thanks! I never want our lessons to get too technical like saying "this is the pretérito pluscuamperfecto" for example, but I do think it's necessary to differentiate between the imperfect and the preterite 👍

[@edgarpayne8673]

Think pretérito = -ed in English. Imperfecto think background story or information. Butterfly Spanish has a vídeo on the imperfect, which is worth watching more than a few times. In this excellent video, paying attention to the trigger words is essential to knowing which tense(time period) to use.

[@edgarpayne8673]

Think pretérito = -ed in English. Imperfecto think background story or information. Butterfly Spanish has a vídeo on the imperfect, which is worth watching more than a few times. In this excellent video, paying attention to the trigger words is essential to knowing which tense(time period) to use.

[@SillySpanish]

Why do you do the video together that’s very distracting

[@anytimeespanol]

@SillySpanish I have no idea what you mean by this? Like, because the two of us together are so attractive, it's distracting? 😎😆

[@SillySpanish]

@@anytimeespanol no because you switch voices i don’t know it distracts me to switch listening between you two. It’s stupid

[@anytimeespanol]

@@SillySpanish I mean, no matter the reason, if it distracts you, you need to find a channel with 1 teacher so you can focus more. The point is to improve your Spanish 🙌👍

[@SillySpanish]

@@anytimeespanol yes

[@goodatpartying]

Everytime you say 'estar' with an American accent it drives me insane can you just not.

[@anytimeespanol]

I'm sorry, but I must 😁

[@SergioLeon-e2e]

I have lived in England for 50 years and I am trilingual. Your lessons are quite boring.

[@anytimeespanol]

@SergioLeon-e2e Well, we appreciate you helping us grow and giving us views and comments 🙌👍 If these videos bore you, they're definitely not for your level of intelligence. Maybe another Spanish channel would be more helpful or entertaining?

[@nick0liver446]

Another gringo and Latina pareja teaching Spanish. Rinse and repeat😂

[@anytimeespanol]

Hope you enjoyed the video! Thanks for the comment 🙌👍