Learn Spanish (Spain): Los dioses griegos eran poderosos.

Los dioses griegos eran poderosos.

The Greek gods were powerful.

Breakdown of Los dioses griegos eran poderosos.

Questions & Answers about Los dioses griegos eran poderosos.

Why is eran used here instead of the preterite fueron?

Eran is the imperfect tense of ser (to be). We use the imperfect here because it describes a general characteristic or state in the past, rather than a specific, completed event.

Is eran a regular verb in the imperfect tense?

No, ser is one of only three irregular verbs in the imperfect tense (along with ir and ver). Eran is the 'they' form, coming from the conjugation pattern: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran.

Why do griegos and poderosos both end in -os?

Both are adjectives describing the masculine plural noun dioses. In Spanish, adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe, which is why they both take the masculine plural -os ending.

How is the word dioses made plural?

The singular word for god is dios. Because it ends in a consonant, you must add -es to make it plural, resulting in dioses.