"Ela era professora."

Translation: She was a teacher.

[tchriste3]

Why doesn't "She used to be a teacher" work here?

[Paulenrique]

It should also be accepted.

[BarlimanOfBree]

It still isn't after two years.

[anyisa]

not even until now

[Klyamada]

Would you ever write: "Ela foi professora"?

[Paulenrique]

yes, in this case both work!

[Lahure]

Querido Paulo. Ajuda me aqui por favor. Ela era UMA professora.

[Paulenrique]

you can report that as correct too. But when we talk about professions, we find a difference in Portuguese. In English, when you have "a/an" before an occupation, in Portuguese the normal way is omitting "um(a)". She is a nurse = ela é enfermeira. He'll be a journalist = ele será jornalista. But you can add "um(a)" if you have additional information: ela era UMA excelente professora.

[TonyBrown11]

how do you get she was "one" teacher form ela era professora? Wouldnt that be ela era uma professor?

[MarcosBern29777]

Actually, is " Ele era UM professor" or "Ela era UMA professora" In articles we have masculine and feminine on it..

[brunnotakai]

Why not "She was teacher?"

[Paulenrique]

Você precisa incluir "a" ou "an" para profissões no singular em inglês.

[brunnotakai]

Thanks. I did not know that rule.

[Nonzo]

'Era' is the pretérito imperfeito tense of what verb? I thought it was a conjugation of 'estar' but this appears not to be the case.

[BarlimanOfBree]

It's the Imperfect first and third-person singular for "ser."

[Nonzo]

Aaah! I see it now. Thank you.