It will depend a lot on 1) the past participle (participio pasado) and 2) the continuity or recurrence of the action... The verb "to be" in Spanish has two variants: "ser" and "estar". "Ser" is understood as a permanent condition and "estar" as a temporary condition. For example: Ella está enferma ("está" from the verb "estar") she is sick (but she will recover). Ella es enferma ("es" from "ser") she is sick (chronically). Spanish has two forms of past, "perfective" and "imperfective". "Perfective" means that the action has limits (this should not be confused with "complete or finished actions"). And the "imperfective" past indicates that the action lasted for a certain period of time or it was a habitual action. For example: Cuando yo era pequeño VISITÉ a mi padre (perfective) = when I was a kid I visited my father. Cuando yo era pequeño VISITABA a mi padre (imperfective) = when I was a kid I used to visit my father. Perfective past of "ser" Yo fui Tú fuiste Él fue Nosotros fuimos Ustedes fueron Ellos fueron Imperfective past of "ser" Yo era Tú eras Él era Nosotros éramos Ustedes eran Ellos eran Perfective past of "estar" Yo estuve Tú estuviste Él estuvo Nosotros estuvimos Ustedes estuvieron Ellos estuvieron Imperfective past of "estar" Yo estaba Tú estabas Él estaba Nosotros estábamos Ustedes estaban Ellos estaban. I hope this answers your question.