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Ser y Estar
5 Ser and Estar
Estar
Estar is also the verb “to be” in english, but also it is the verb “located”.
Ejemplos
Yo estoy en el supermercado
Nosotros estamos en el restaurante
Ellos están en Rusia
Ser vs Estar
Even both of the verbs are “to be” in English. There is one big difference, ser is a constant state , the es-
sence of the person/thing while estar is a temporary state.
Ser Estar
“Constant state” “Temporary state”
Physical characteristics Physical state or emotions
Nationality Location
Price Temporary or variable prices
Profession Temporary job
Event location
Date and time
Posession
Identification
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ser y estar
Ser
The first use of ser is for describing characteristics such as height, shape, size, colour and material.
To describe the materials an object is made out of, you should combine ser with the preposition “de”
Where you are from is a permanent characteristic, it is possible to move and live in a new location, but in
Spanish you should always describe your origin with ser.
When you want to ask or describe the price of an item in Spanish, mostly you will need to use ser. You will
see later that there is an exception for variables prices such as those in the markets.
When you are describing your chosen profession, the career you intend to devote yourself to in the medi-
ate to long term, you should use ser.
This use of ser can be confusing. Normally you need to use estar with location but when you are talking
about events such as a meeting, a party, a wedding, or a conference, you need to use ser.
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ser y estar
Even though ownership can change hands quickly, you need to talk about it with ser.
Estar
The first use of estar is for describing temporary states such as being sick or emotional.
Español: Él no está en el trabajo hoy porque está Español: Mi novia está triste porque está dema-
enfermo. siada ocupada.
English: He isn’t at work today because he is sick. English: My girlfriend is sad because she is too busy.
This last example really tests the simple rule for ser and estar as permanent and temporary states respec-
tively. If something or someone is dead, this doesn’t strike me as a state that is going to change anytime
soon, but nonetheless you need to estar to describe their current physical state.
If you are reading this post in order, you will have already seen that ser is used to talk about location with
events. Apart from that exception, estar is used for all other situations to describe location.
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ser y estar
In contrast to the third use of ser for price, estar is used in combination with the preposition a to talk
about prices that change on a daily basis, such as those in a local market.
Español: ¿A cuánto está la carne hoy? Español: Hoy está a €8 (ocho euros) el kilo.
English: How much is the meat today? English: Today it’s €8 (eight euros) per kilo.
When you aren’t talking about your life’s calling or profession, and you only want to refer to temporary
work, you can use estar in combination with the preposition de to describe what you are temporarily do-
ing.
Español: Estoy de camarero pero quiero ser abog- Español: Estoy de recepcionista para sobrevivir,
ado. pero quiero ser profesora.
English: I’m a waiter but I want to be a lawyer. English: I’m a receptionist to get by but I want to be
a teacher.
The last use of estar is for talking about ‘being’ in a day, date or month. If you are going to talk about
the date with this use of estar you can only use it as the first person plural and in combination with the
preposition a for the day or en for the month or year.
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Ejercicios ser y estar
Elena Petrova ________ enfermera. Ella ________ de Rusia. ________ rusa. ________ de Moscú, pero
________ en Madrid con una familia. La familia Garcia ________ simpática. La sra. Garcia ________
madrileña. Los niños no ________ en casa. ________ en la playa.
¿ De dónde ________ Ustedes? ________ de Madrid.
¿ Tú ________ de Barcelona, verdad? Si, (yo) ________ de Barcelona.
¿ Dónde ________ Juan? Él ________ en Granada
¿ Cómo ________ tu amigo? ________ muy simpático y moreno.
¿ Cómo ________ tu amigo? ________ muy mal, ________ enfermo
5) Mi abuela tiene ochenta años pero ____________ muy joven y tiene mucha energía.
8) Paco y Ana ____________ novios. Ellos ____________ muy enamorados. La boda ____________ en
junio.
9) El coche nuevo ____________ de Luis. ____________ un BMW, ¿verdad?
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