Ser Vs Estar

[fglorca]

Which one of the following four is correct? I think it needs to be the Imperfect tense and it needs to be the verb ser as we are describing something in the past. Is era the correct option? If so, are any of the others acceptable?

• La camisa era muy larga.
• La camisa fue muy larga.
• La camisa estaba muy larga.
• La camisa estuvo muy larga.


Many thanks in advance.

[Rusty]

All are correct. It depends on what you want to convey.

era: used to describe an ongoing or habitual characteristic
fue: used to describe a characteristic within a defined time in the past
estaba: used to describe a deviation from an ongoing or habitual characteristic
estuvo: used to describe a deviation from a characteristic within a defined time in the past

[aleCcowaN]

Unless you're mixing up larga with large, fue makes no sense there. Era or estaba depends on what are you trying to say.

[AngelicaDeAlquezar]

@fglorca: If you say "la camisa fue muy larga", it means that at some moment the shirt wasn't long but then it suddenly was. It's not that it doesn't make sense, but it's a strange idea.
Saying "estuvo" is not as awkward because then the idea is rather about the moment when you tried it on and it didn't fit.
"Era" and "estaba" relate to the shirt itself, as it was when you were talking about it.

[fglorca]

Thanks so much for all your help, it is really appreciated.

I bought the shirt, returned home, tried it on, looked at myself in the mirror, and then realised it was too big (grande a better option, I see now!).

Apologies, I should have given more context with my original post, in future, I will do this.

I know I have heard both era and estaba, but I'm not exactly sure of the difference in meaning with these two in this particular context.