The preterite of ser and ir
The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) are completely irregular in the preterite (past) tense. In fact, they share the exact same forms!
| Subject | Conjugation (ser / ir) |
|---|---|
| yo | fui |
| tú | fuiste |
| él/ella/usted | fue |
| nosotros/as | fuimos |
| vosotros/as | fuisteis |
| ellos/ellas/ustedes | fueron |
Since the words are identical, you will need to use context to tell them apart. Usually, ir is followed by a (to) and a destination, while ser is used to describe what something was like.
| Yesterday I went to the castle with my brother. | Ayer fui al castillo con mi hermano. |
| The trip to the castle was incredible. | El viaje al castillo fue increíble. |
| Did you go to the palace? You need to see the paintings. | ¿Fuiste al palacio? Necesitas ver los cuadros. |
Plural forms: fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
The plural forms follow the same logic. Here is how you use them to talk about where "we," "you all," or "they" went:
| Yesterday we went to the bridge and ate in a restaurant. | Ayer fuimos al puente y comimos en un restaurante. |
| Yesterday you all went to the temple, but you ate nothing and now you are very hungry. | Ayer fuisteis al templo, pero no comisteis nada y ahora tenéis mucha hambre. |
It is very common to see both ser and ir used in the same story, or even the exact same sentence, when talking about travel!
| They went to the hotel early because the trip was exhausting. | Fueron al hotel temprano porque el viaje fue agotador. |
Describing your trip
When describing places or experiences, make sure the form of ser matches whether the subject is singular (like el paseo) or plural (like las vistas or las vacaciones).
| The walk was incredible and the views were gorgeous. | El paseo fue increíble y las vistas fueron preciosas. |
| The holidays in Spain were great. | Las vacaciones en España fueron estupendas. |
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