Everything you wanted to know about ser and estar

*warning… lots of information, aka a long post

‘SER’ and ‘ESTAR’ are two basic verbs in Spanish that you will use often in speaking and writing, but they can cause a lot of confusion because they both translate as “to be”. Let’s talk about when and how to use them:

SER means to be.

You use it when you are making reference to: Your profession, your nationality, your personality and physical characteristics, to describe what something is made, to describe who something belongs to, to describe relationships between people, to describe when and where an event takes place.

SER  is conjugated in the following manner:

Yo        soy      I am                                          Nosotros   somos   we are

Tú       eres     You are                                     Vosotros   sois         y’all are

él/ella/usted     es                                            Ellos/as/ustedes   son   they are

         he/she is, you are                 

ESTAR also means to be.

You use it when you are making reference to: The location of a person, place, or thing, describing how you feel, describing the condition or state of person or object, describing certain weather conditions. ESTAR is also often paired with the present participle to form the present progressive tense or the past participle to describe the condition of a person, place or thing.

ESTAR is conjugated in the following manner:

Yo            estoy        I am                               Nosotros              estamos     we are

Tú           estás        you are                          Vosotros                estáis       y’all are

él/ella/usted    está                                        Ellos/as/ustedes    están      they are

                   he/she is, you are                                                                   

Let’s review some examples:

SER

Profession

Yo soy un doctor. I am a doctor

Nationality

Mi abuela es venezolana. My grandmother is Venezuelan

Personality

Ella es muy simpática. She is very nice.

Physical Characteristics

Ellos son muy altos. They are very tall.

Composition/what something is made of

El cuaderno es de papel. The notebook is made of paper.

Possession

Son mis zapatos. They are my shoes.

Relationship

Laura es la hermana de Frank. Laura is Frank’s sister.

When and where an event occurs

El concierto es mañana en el estadio y es a las 8 de la noche. The concert is tomorrow in the stadium and it is at 8pm.

ESTAR

Location

La casa de mi tía está cerca de la casa de mi abuela. My aunt’s house is close to my grandmother’s house.

Emotion

Hoy estamos muy feliz. We are very happy today.

Condition

La ventana está abierta. The window is open.

Weather

Está nublado. It is cloudy.

Present Progressive

Vosotros estáis estudiando para el examen. You all are studying for the exam.

Some adjectives have different meanings when used with SER or ESTAR. They are:

aburrido/a

Ser + aburrido/a = To be boring (as a characteristic)

Estar + aburrido/a = To be bored (as an emotion/feeling)

libre/s

Ser + libre = To be free (ex. not imprisoned)

Estar + libre = To be available

listo/a

Ser + listo = To be intelligent/smart

Estar + listo/a = To be ready

malo/a

Ser + malo/a = To be a bad person

Estar + malo/a = To feel bad (healthwise)

rico/a

Ser + rico/a = To have a lot of money

Estar + rico/a = To taste good (ex. food)

seguro/a

Ser + seguro/a = To be safe

Estar + seguro/a = To be sure

verde/s

Ser + verde/s = To be green (ex. color)

Estar + verde/s = To not be ripe (ex. fruit)

vivo/a

Ser + vivo/a = To be lively (personality)

Estar + vivo/a = To be alive

Wheeeewww! That was a lot! If you have any other questions about the uses of “ser” and “estar”, drop me a line at drcort@heydrcort.com!

Cheers to your success!

~ Dr. Cort