Breakdown of Muchos hombres fueron matados en la guerra.
ser
to be
en
in / on / at
mucho
many / a lot
el hombre
the man
la guerra
the war
matar
to kill
Questions & Answers about Muchos hombres fueron matados en la guerra.
Why is it fueron here instead of estuvieron?
This sentence uses the passive voice, which is formed with the verb ser (here in the preterite, fueron) plus a past participle (matados). We use ser to focus on the action happening to the subject. If we used estar, it would describe a resulting state, which doesn't work well here since being killed is an event, not a temporary condition.
Why does matados end in -os? I thought past participles always ended in -o.
When you use a past participle with the verb haber to form perfect tenses (like 'they have killed'), it always ends in -o. But in the passive voice with the verb ser, the past participle acts like an adjective. This means it must match the subject in gender and number. Because Muchos hombres is masculine and plural, matado becomes matados.
I usually see muerto used for dead. Is matados correct here?
Yes! Muerto is the irregular past participle of morir (to die). Matado is the regular past participle of matar (to kill). While you will actually often see fueron muertos used to mean 'were killed', fueron matados is grammatically correct and emphasizes the violent action of someone killing them rather than the state of them dying.
Why use the preterite fueron instead of the imperfect eran?
The lesson mentions using por (by) in these sentences. Why is it missing here?
In the passive voice, you only use por if you want to mention exactly who performed the action (the 'agent'). For example, fueron matados por el enemigo (were killed by the enemy). Since this sentence doesn't specify who killed the men, the por phrase is just left out.
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