Fue o estuvo

Question

I  still get confused about this. If I want to say I went to see a film last night and it was great would it be 'Fui a ver una película anoche y fue genial' or 'Fui a ver una película anoche y estuvo genial' . Also which would you use in a restaurant to say how the food was.

Accepted Answer

Hola AnthonyThe most common use of these verbs in this context would be estar in the preterite - the reason to use "la peícula estuvo genial" here is because what you are expressing is "your own perception/opinion about that film" when you saw it, as opposed to expressing an intrinsic characteristic of that film that everybody will perceive (the quality of the film was great). The same applies to expressing an opinion about a meal when you say "esta paella está deliciosa" or "la cena de ayer estuvo riquísima" (personal perceptions).I hope this clarified it.SaludosInma

Answer

Thanks Inma.  Got it now!