En la excursión éramos diecisiete personas y aun así todo salió bien.

to be

Breakdown of En la excursión éramos diecisiete personas y aun así todo salió bien.

• nosotros: we
• y: and
• en: on

Questions & Answers about En la excursión éramos diecisiete personas y aun así todo salió bien.

Why is it éramos and not había in éramos diecisiete personas?

Because éramos means we were, so the speaker is including themselves in the group.

• Éramos diecisiete personas = There were seventeen of us / We were seventeen people
• Había diecisiete personas = There were seventeen people in a more impersonal way

Both can be correct in some contexts, but they are not exactly the same.

• Éramos... focuses on the group as "we"
• Había... just states that a number of people existed there

So this sentence uses éramos because the speaker was part of the excursion.

Why is it éramos and not eran?

Because éramos is first person plural: we were.

The speaker is talking about a group they belonged to.

• éramos = we were
• eran = they were

So:

• En la excursión éramos diecisiete personas = the speaker was one of the seventeen
• En la excursión eran diecisiete personas would mean the speaker is talking about another group, not including themselves

Why is ser used here instead of ?