Hi Dom, There is not short answer to your question, but here it goes: No era necesario llevar corbata a la oficina, pero fue necesario llevarla el día que nos visitó el presidente de la empresa. Good luck with imperfecto/indefinido!!!

Hi Dom, This has to do with the difference between the imperfecto (era) and the perfecto simple (fue) in Spanish. Both tenses are used to talk about actions and events in the past, but they present these actions and events in a different perspective. El perfecto simple is used to talk about actions in the past that are completely over, they have no relation with the present at all. For example, if you see words like 'ayer', 'la semana pasada, 'el año anterior', etc in the sentence, then you'd most likely use the perfecto simple. E.g.: Ayer, pensé ir al gimnasio para hacer ejercicios y tomar una ducha pero no encontré mi carné de identidad. The imperfecto is more used to describe actions in the past: you'll most likely choose this tense if you are to describe an action or event that happened in the past. We use this tense as well if we're talking about habits in the past ("when I was young, I always watched Disney-movies" would be written in the imperfecto). Also, the age of someone and the hour in Spanish are written in the imperfecto. E.g.: Siempre venía a verme a las diez (habit) / La casa estaba pintada en blanco (description) / ... Most sentences in Spanish use a combination of the perfecto simple and the imperfecto. Just keep in mind that the perfecto simple is used for a short action that (suddenly) happens when another, long action - written in imperfecto - is going on. E.g.: Leía el periódico (long action). Eran las cinco de la tarde (the hour) cuando sonó el telefono (action that suddenly happens). Era mi amigo Juan (description). Me invitó al cine. Colgué el teléfono y me fui (successive actions). I know this can be very confusing, but I hope this short explanation helps! There are a lot of exceptions, but the best way to learn the difference between the two is to make a lot of exercises! Regards Karen

zuezue