When to use past definite ser/estar?

[Coffee Kitten]

What are situations wherein I can use past definite ser (fuí, fué...) and estar (estuve, estuvo...)? I cannot think of any, since descriptions, characteristics and conditions don't seem to occur at a single point in time, which is my idea of when to use the past definite.

For past tense ser and estar, I have so far only used the past descriptive, e.g.

Éramos de las Filipinas.
Era discípulo.
Las manzanas eran rojas.

Estaban en la escuela.
Yo estaba mala.
¿Porqué estabas feliz ayer?

¡Gracias!

[chileno]

Originally Posted by Coffee Kitten

What are situations wherein I can use past definite ser (fuí, fué...) and estar (estuve, estuvo...)? I cannot think of any, since descriptions, characteristics and conditions don't seem to occur at a single point in time, which is my idea of when to use the past definite.

For past tense ser and estar, I have so far only used the past descriptive, e.g.

Éramos de las Filipinas.
Era discípulo.
Las manzanas eran rojas.

Estaban en la escuela.
Yo estaba mala.
¿Porqué estabas feliz ayer?

¡Gracias!

We were from the Philippines = Éramos de las Filipinas.


I was the Dr. in that play = (Yo) era/fui el Dr. en esa obra

I was a Dr. when I was young = (Yo) fui/era Dr. cuando era jóven.


Hmmm... difficult...

[Coffee Kitten]

Hi all. I've found a nice answer to my question here. Thought I'd share for those interested: http://spanish.about.com/cs/verbs/a/serpast.htm

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

You can also check this thread: http://forums.tomisimo.org/showthread.php?t=260