re: irrelevant (imperfect)

Question

You answered a question at the bottom this section  (to Papi on April 16,            2018) and said:This sentence could be using both "fui" and "era"
depending on the the timeframe when the action happened, being more specific (preterite) or more
irrelevant (imperfect).Could you expand a bit on the "irrelevant (imperfect)" which is an interesting perspective, I hadn't come across before. Point in quiz being referred to:Mi prima ________ Miss Universo. .My cousin was Miss Universe HINT: Conjugate "ser" in Pretérito indefinido

Answer

Hola ValerieYes, of course. If we use the sentence with the imperfect "era" we don't see the time when that happened as relevant, so we don't think of it as a specific time in the past. However when we use the preterite "fue" we see it as a completed action that had a beginning and an end. This nuance is not specific to verb ser. It happens with all verbs. Here is another example:1. Marta trabajaba en una tienda.2. Marta trabajó en una tienda.With sentence 2,  we can see the action as finished, so Maria working in the shop had a beginning and an end. With sentence 1, the time is not relevant. We are simply saying that she worked in a shop. She may still be working there...I hope this clarifies it a bit more.Saludos.Inma

Answer

Think of the imperfect as a timeline and the preterite as a point on that timeline.

Answer

This is such a brilliant answer!  Thank you so much!