How to Say "She Was" in Spanish

era

/ˈeɾa/

The English phrase "she was" is translated into Spanish as era.

The phrase era is used to describe a person's characteristics or state in the past.

Which one should you use?

Use era instead of fue when describing ongoing states, personality traits or background information in the past.

/ˈeɾa/

The word era is a homonym in Spanish, as it also refers to a 'period of time' or an 'epoch', such as the 'Jurassic era'.
The word era shares an ancient ancestor with the English word 'area', as both stem from the Latin word for an open space or ground.
In Spanish, era can also describe a 'threshing floor' where grain was separated from straw, reflecting the word's ancient agricultural roots.

Era una buena gata.
She was a good cat.
This sentence demonstrates the use of era to describe a characteristic.
Tatoeba #13462612 by Seael, translation #13461878 by rul
Te dije que era rubia.
I told you that she was blonde.
This sentence shows how to use era when describing a physical trait like hair color.
Tatoeba #1020574 by Shishir, translation #1020570 by CM
Le dijo que era feliz.
She told him that she was happy.
This sentence illustrates using era to describe a state of being, such as happiness.
Tatoeba #1330618 by Shishir, translation #887455 by CK
Ella era muy inteligente.
She was very intelligent.
Ella fue la primera en llegar.
She was the first to arrive.
Ella estuvo muy cansada ayer.
She was very tired yesterday.
Ella era muy divertida.
She was very funny.
Ella fue la ganadora del concurso.
She was the winner of the contest.
Ella estuvo muy ocupada toda la semana.
She was very busy all week.
Ella era una excelente cantante.
She was an excellent singer.
Ella fue muy amable conmigo.
She was very kind to me.
Ella estuvo enferma durante dos semanas.
She was sick for two weeks.
138 more sentences on Tatoeba

Sofía and Alejandro are discussing an old neighbor.

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