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.