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El monumento fue tallado por un escultor.

El monumento fue tallado por un escultor.
The monument was carved by a sculptor.
From Lesson 362:Analytical passive voice (ser + participio)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about El monumento fue tallado por un escultor.

Why use fue tallado instead of the passive with se (se talló)?
We use the analytical passive (ser + past participle) here because we are explicitly naming the agent who performed the action using por un escultor. The passive with se is much more common in everyday Spanish, but it is generally used when the person doing the action is left unmentioned or is unimportant.
Why does tallado end in -o in this sentence?
In this passive structure, the past participle (tallado) must agree in gender and number with the subject receiving the action. Because el monumento is masculine and singular, tallado ends in -o. If the subject were feminine, like la piedra (the stone), it would change to fue tallada.
Could I use era tallado instead of fue tallado?
You would only use era tallado (the imperfect tense) if you wanted to describe an ongoing or habitual action in the past, translating closer to it was being carved. By using the preterite fue, the sentence treats the carving as a single, completed event.
Can I use tallar for carving food, like a turkey or a roast?
No, tallar is specifically used for sculpting or shaping hard materials like wood, stone, or marble. To carve meat, you would use a verb like cortar (to cut) or trinchar (to carve/slice food).

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