Breakdown of Las campanas fueron instaladas por los obreros.
ser
to be
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
instalar
to install
el obrero
the worker
la campana
the bell
Questions & Answers about Las campanas fueron instaladas por los obreros.
Why does the word for "installed" end in "-as" (instaladas) instead of just "-o"?
In the analytical passive voice (ser + past participle), the past participle acts like an adjective. This means it must agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence. Because las campanas (the bells) is feminine plural, the participle changes from instalado to instaladas.
Why do we use fueron (from ser) here instead of estuvieron (from estar) for "were"?
We use ser here because this sentence describes an action taking place: the event of the bells being installed by the workers. If we used estar (estuvieron instaladas), it would describe a state or result (the bells were in an installed state), and we wouldn't include the agent (por los obreros) because the active installing part would already be over.
Why is the sentence using the preterite (fueron) rather than the imperfect (eran)?
Using the preterite fueron treats the installation as a completed, one-time event in the past. If you used the imperfect eran, it would mean the installation was an ongoing background event or a habitual action in the past (for example, if they used to be installed by the workers every year).
Is this the most natural way to say this in everyday Latin American Spanish?
Actually, this structure (ser + past participle + por + agent) sounds quite formal and is mostly found in news reports, history books, or literature. In everyday conversation, a native speaker would almost always just use the active voice instead: Los obreros instalaron las campanas.
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