Verb of the week - Ser and Estar

Verb of the week – Ser and Estar

Each week, we are looking at a new verb in Spanish. Ser and estar are two of the most important verbs in Spanish. They both mean “to be”. Unlike English, where there is only one verb “to be” in Spanish there are two.

English seems fairly straightforward. Only one verb "to be", three conjugations in the present tense, two in the preterite and one in the future.

Present tense       Preterite (simple past tense)    Future
I am                      I was                                        I will
You are                 You were                                  You will
He/she/it is          He/she/it was                          He/she/it will
We are                 We were                                   We will
They are               They were                                They will

In Spanish, we need to know which “to-be” verb to use and also the correct conjugation (six in the present tense, compared to just three in English).

Estar is used for the following:

Health
Location
State or condition (people)
State or condition (things and places)

Ser is used for everything else (that's a vast over-simplification!).

It sounds daunting, but the law of averages says you will be right half the time and, with a little knowledge and understanding, you can raise that average.

Let's look at some uses of estar:

Health
¿Cómo estas? Estoy bien.

Location (people, places and things)
Estoy en Peterborough
La escuela está lejos
Los libros están en la mesa

State or condition
Estoy listo. Estoy occupado. Este hombre está borracho.
El té está caliente. La taza está llena. La tienda está cerrada

… and ser:

¿Qué hora es? Son las dos y media. Este libro es de María
Soy Inglés. Ella es de Ecuador. Él es amable conmigo

Estar

                                                     Present           Preterite             Future
I yo                                               estoy              estuve                  estaré
You (familiar) tú                            estás              estuviste              estarás
He/she/you (formal) él/ella           está               estuvo                  estará
We nosotros                                  estamos         estuvimos             estaremos
You (plural) vosotros                      estáis            estuvisteis           estaréis
They/you (plural) ellos/ustedes     están             estuvieron            estarán

Past participle: estado

Examples:

Estuve enferma ayer. Tú estuviste ahí anoche. La llave estuvo en la puerta.
Ella ha estado enferma. Estaré lista a las cinco.

Ser

                                                     Present       Preterite       Future
I yo                                               soy             fui                 seré
You (familiar) tú                            eres           fuiste            serás
He/she/you (formal) él/ella          es               fue                será
We nosotros                                 somos         fuimos           seremos
You (plural) vosotros                     sois            fuisteis          sereís
They/you (plural) ellos/ustedes    son             fueron            serán

Past participle: sido
Gerund: siendo

Fui a Jersey el mes pasado. ¿Fuiste de compras de nuevo? Seré una buena amiga.

Estoy siendo bueno hoy. ¡Ha sido uno de esos días! Fuimos al ciné ayer.

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