Ser / Estar – TWO VERBS IN SPANISH FOR “TO BE”

SER – to be ESTAR = to be
Used for: Used for:
✔ PERMANENT or lasting attributes ✔ TEMPORARY states (something in the
moment ) and LOCATION
Who someone is or what something is Location/Position of someone or something
Yo soy Maria. Es una revista. Madrid está en españa.
I am Maria. It is a magazine. Madrid is in Spain
Mis padres están en Barcelona.
My parents are in Barcelona.
Occupation
Las sillas están encima de la mesa.
Soy profesor del español Ellos son estudiantes The chairs are on the table.
I am a Spanish teacher
El baño está a la derecha de la sala.
The bathroom is to the right of the living room.
Personality
Las ventanas están a la izquierda
Amalia es inteligente, atrevida, y amable. The windows are on the left
Amalia is intelligente, daring, and friendly
• EXCEPTION FOR PARTIES
Mi esposo es romántico y cariñoso This is a big one: The location of an event or
My husband is romantic and caring. party is described using SER. Not ESTAR!
La fiesta es en mi casa.
Physical description of a person, place, or thing (The party is at my house.)
Coulor and size Emotions/Feelings in the moment
Las sillas son grises Madrid es grande. La chica de gafas está bastante seria
The chairs are gray Madrid is big. The girl with the glasses is quite serious.
Estoy tan cansada esta mañana
Las chicas son guapas Es rojo. Es pqueño. I am so tired this morning
The girls are good- It's red. It's small. Estoy triste.
looking. I am sad.
María es  alta, delgada y rubia. Ella está contenta porque recibió unas flores de
Maria is tall, thin, and blonde. su novio.
She is happy because she received some
Relationship flowers from her boyfriend.
Christine es mi madre Es mi hermano.
Christine is my mother He is my brother. Illness/Condition
Mis niños están enfermos hoy.
Callum es mi novio. Andrés es católico.
My children are sick today
Callum is my boyfriend. Andrés is Catholic.
Estoy enfermo
I'm ill/sick.
Telling time, day, date
Hoy es miércoles. Son las tres y cuarto Continous action (-ing in English)
Today is Wednesday It's quarter past three Estoy lavando los platos sucios.
I am washing the dirty dishes.
Hoy es mi cumpleaños
Today is my birthday. Estamos leyendo los periódicos.
We are reading the newspapers.
Death is Ongoing Action
Nationality and origin In Spanish, death is seen as an ongoing action, not a
Adela es peruana. Celia es de España . permanent state, thus you use the estar and not ser.
Adela is Peruvian Celia is from Spain Mi bisabuelo está muerto.
My great-grandfather is dead.)
 CAREFUL!!!
to describe how food tastes
When referring to food on a menu we use ser In the example below, we use estar because we are
because we are making reference to food items referring to the particular churro that will only exist for
don’t change. that point in time in which it is in front of us before or just
after we have eaten it:
La comida de este restaurante es deliciosa.
The food at this restaurant is delicious. Este churro está delicioso.
This churro is delicious.

es guapo / está guapo

Mi novia es muy Estás muy guapa en ese vestido de novia.
guapa. You are very beautiful in that wedding dress.
My girlfriend is very
beautiful
Brad Pitt es muy guapo, pero en esta foto no está nada guapo

es antipático / está antipático

Normalmente mi hermano es simpático, pero hoy está muy antipático porque está nervioso
por un examen que tiene más tarde.
 SER = to be (irregular)
PRESENT tense PRETERITE tense
-ER Present -ER Past
conjugation
SER=to be SER=to be
conjugation
S Yo  (I)
I -o soy -í fui
I am I was
N
G Tú  (You) eres fuiste
-es -iste
U You are you were
L
Él / Ella es fue
A -e -ió
(He/She/It) He/She/It is he/she/it was
R

P Nosotros/Nosotras
-emos somos -imos fuimos
L (We) We are we were
U Vosotros/Vosotras sois fuisteis
-éis  -isteis
R (You-plural) You are you were
A
L
Ellos/Ellas 
-en son -ieron fueron
(They) they are they were

ESTAR = to be
PRESENT tense PRETERITE tense
-AR Present -AR Past
ESTAR = to be ESTAR = to be
conjugation conjugation
S Yo  (I)
I -o estoy -é estuve
I am I was
N
G Tú  (You) estás estuviste
U
-as You are
-aste
You were
L
A Él / Ella (He/She/It) -a está -ó estuvo
R
He/She is He/she was

P Nosotros/Nosotras estamos estuvimos

(We) -amos -amos
L We are We were
U Vosotros/Vosotras
-áis estáis -asteis estuvisteis
R (You-plural) You are You were
A
L
Ellos/Ellas 
-an están -aron estuvieron
(They) They are They were
There are many verb phrases that use 'estar'. Conjugate “estar” only. BUT remember the different meanings!
estar de acuerdo to agree

estar en contra to be against

estar de vacaciones to be on holiday