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Ser vs Estar - Difficult concept, simplified!
2LikeSer and Estar are two verbs that we have in Spanish and they're both used to say "to be".
A lot of students struggle with when to use ser and when to use estar, because in English, we just have "to be". So let's have a look at when to use each one so you can ace your next grammar test!
Ser
We would normally use ser to talk about things that are typically permanent, or last for a long time. First, let's go over the ser conjugations:
- Yo soy
- Tu eres
- El/ella/usted es
- Nosotros somos
- Vosotros sois
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes son
Things like the date, occupations, people's characteristics, the time, the origin of something and relationships are examples of times when we would want to use the verb ser. These are things that don't really change very often. For example:
- Hoy es el 27 de septiembre (Today is the 27th of September) - Date
- Soy abogado (I am a lawyer) - Occupation
- Ella es divertida (She is fun) - Characteristic
- Son las once y media (It is 11:30) - Time
- Somos de escocia (We are from Scotland) - Origin
- Eres mi hermano (You are my brother) - Relationships
Remember the acronym DOCTOR to help you remember this!
Estar
Estar is a little different. We will normally use estar to talk about things that aren't permanent. Let's revise the estar conjugations:
- Yo estoy
- Tu esta's
- El/ella/usted esta'
- Nosotros estamos
- Vosotros esta'is
- Ellos/ellas/ustedes esta'n
(the a' is signifies an a acute accent! I can't type it here :/)
Things like position, locations, actions, conditions and emotions are examples where we would use estar. These are things that frequently change. (Don't forget to add the accent on the a!) For example:
- El mejor restaurante del pueblo esta' en la plaza principal. (The best restaurant in the town is in the main square) - Position
- Estoy en el aula (I am in the classroom) - Location
- Estamos preparando la cena (I am preparing dinner) - Action
- (present continuous tense, don't worry about this one too much at the moment, I'll post another article on the blog explaining tenses.)
- Mi boli esta' roto (my pen is broken) - Condition
- Esta'n tristes (they are sad) - Emotions
You might ask why we need the ' accent above the a when we use estar. Well what if I told you that esta (without the accent) means "this" and estas (without the accent) means "these"? Another example why accents are really important when you're writing in Spanish!
I hope this blog post helped you understand the differences between ser and estar and you have a better idea of how to use them! Any questions, just message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can!
Muchas gracias por leer, y hasta luego.