Breakdown of El tejado fue destruido por la tormenta y está arruinado.
ser
to be
y
and
estar
to be (location/state)
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
la tormenta
the storm
destruir
to destroy
arruinar
to ruin
el tejado
the roof (exterior)
Questions & Answers about El tejado fue destruido por la tormenta y está arruinado.
Why does this sentence use fue (from ser) for destruido but está (from estar) for arruinado?
This highlights the exact difference between an action and a resulting state. We use ser + past participle (fue destruido) to describe the action or event taking place (the storm destroying the roof). We use estar + past participle (está arruinado) to describe the condition or state the roof is in after the action has finished.
Since fue destruido is in the past, why is fue in the preterite instead of the imperfect (era)?
Why is it por la tormenta and not para la tormenta?
When using the passive voice, we always use por to introduce the agent (the person or thing actually doing the action). Since the storm is what did the destroying, it has to be por la tormenta.
Do destruido and arruinado change their endings depending on what was destroyed?
Yes! When past participles are used with either ser or estar, they act like adjectives and must agree in gender and number with the subject. Because el tejado is masculine and singular, both participles end in -o. If the subject were las casas (the houses), it would be fueron destruidas and están arruinadas.
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