Breakdown of La capilla fue remodelada y ya está terminada.
ser
to be
y
and
estar
to be (location/state)
terminar
to finish / to end
Questions & Answers about La capilla fue remodelada y ya está terminada.
Why do we use fue for remodelada but está for terminada?
This perfectly shows the difference between an action and a resulting state. fue remodelada uses ser because it describes the action that happened to the chapel in the past (it was remodeled by someone). está terminada uses estar because it describes the condition the chapel is in right now as a result (it is in a finished state).
Could I say fue terminada instead of está terminada?
Why do remodelada and terminada end in -a?
In passive sentences and when describing states, the past participles act like adjectives. Since they are describing la capilla, which is a feminine singular noun, both words must end in -a to match it.
Why is fue in the preterite tense rather than the imperfect era?