SER vs. ESTAR

Estar and Ser are both Spanish verbs that can be loosely translated into English as “to be.” While estar is used to describe temporary conditions, ser is used to describe permanent states.

ESTAR

Describing temporary states

Position

Location

Action

Condition

Emotion

Position

Position is the physical position or posture a person or thing is in.

Example: El libro está en la mesa. Mi abuela está sentada.

Location

The location of someone or something describes where it is permanently, temporarily, actually, or conceptually.

Example Yo estoy en mi casa. El museo está en la ciudad.

Action

Estar is used to describe an ongoing action using the present progressive tense.

Example: Tú estás trabajando a la escuela. Estamos leyendo unas novelas.

Condition

Physical and mental conditions are described using estar.

Example: Ellos están enfermos hoy. Mi madre está loca.

Emotion

How a person is feeling at a certain moment is described using estar.

Example Sergio está triste hoy. Ella está contenta.

SER

Permanent/long-term attributes of a noun

Description

Occupation

Characteristic

Time

Origin

Relationship

Description

For description, think of what you would say if someone asked you "What´s he like?" These are the essential qualities that define a person and probably won´t change. They can be a name or a physical description.

Example: Yo soy Raúl. Yo soy alta y delgada.

Occupation

Occupations are seen as life-long careers and are therefore seen as more "permanent" than many people would think in the United States.

Note: Notice that the indefinite articles un, una, unos, and unas are omitted when describing an occupation after the verb ser.

Examples: Yo soy un estudiante. Mi padre es médico.

Characteristic

Characteristics are personality descriptions of a person. These would probably be the second thing you say to "What´s he like?”

Examples: Amalia es inteligente. Mi amigo es cómico.

Time

Time includes days, dates, and hours. For hours, use es for one o´clock and son for all other hours.

Examples: Hoy es lunes. Son las dos de la tarde.

Origin

As the place a person is from or the material something is made from is not going to change we use ser for origin.

Examples: Celia es de España. Mi libro es de papel.

Relationship/Religion

Even after someone dies or someone breaks up, relationships are described using ser. Also, since religion is considered a relationship with a higher power, religions are also described using ser.

Examples: Linda es mi madre. Yo soy católico.