Spanish language Q&A Forum

Hi,

My question: Why the "ser" verb is used in this sentence instead of "estar" Nuestras vidas pueden ser muy ocupadas con la pareja?

As I learned, we have to use estar in the sentences like these: Estoy ocupado, estás muy feliz, etc. I am confused a bit.

By process of elimination, I selected estuvieron as being the correct answer; however, my preference would have been estaban. 

See the example given below:

Mario estaba de camarero en un restaurante.
Mario was working as a waiter in a restaurant.

Here is the question with the answer:

Mis hijos _estuvieron_ de vendedores en una tienda.
My children were working as shop assistants in a store.

My choice:
Mis hijos _estaban_ de vendedores en una tienda.

Would you explain the reason for the answer being the preterite and not the imperfect, please.

Hello!

In the example, ¿"Una iglesia"? ¿Qué es eso?, why is it eso and not esa?

I have just started learning about Preterito indefinido and found that one question in the test  required a preterito imperfecto answer which I have not yet learned. It is rather confusing .

When should I use the past progressive rather than the imperfect tense