SER and ESTAR, Lecture notes of Grammar and Composition

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SER and ESTAR

Both verbs mean “to be.” But

before we discuss the difference,

let’s review the conjugations:

ser estar

soy somos estoy estamos

eres sois estás estáis

es son está están

“Ser” has a lot of uses:

1. to show origin: Juan es de Colombia.

2. with a predicate noun: Juan es estudiante.

3. to tell time: Son las dos y media.

4. to show possession: El libro es de Juan.

5. to show intention: El libro es para Juan.

6. to show composition: La silla es de plástico.

7. with an adjective to show characteristic:

Juan es alto.

However, now that you’ve looked at the many uses of “ser”— and there may be more—you should know that the easiest thing to do is decide whether or not “estar” is required. Juan _____ mi amigo. Remember, “estar” has only three uses: progressive, location, adjective/condition. So ask yourself the following about “Juan _____ mi amigo”: Are we using the verb to make the progressive? – No. Are we using the verb to show location? – No. Is there an adjective that shows condition? – No. If you’d answered “yes” to any of those questions, you would use “está” in the blank. But because you answered “no” to all three, you need “es” in the blank.

CHARACTERISTIC:

a quality that you normally associate with a

person/thing

Juan is tall. Juan es alto

Juan is fat. Juan es gordo.

Juan is rich. Juan es rico

Juan is young. Juan es joven.

The door is green. La puerta es verde.

The door is big. La puerta es grande.

The door is ugly. La puerta es fea.

CONDITION:

the state of being of a person/thing

Juan is sick. Juan está enfermo.

Juan is tired. Juan está cansado.

Juan is sad. Juan está triste.

Juan is bored. Juan está aburrido.

Juan is busy. Juan está ocupado.

The door is open. La puerta está abierta.

The door is broken. La puerta está rota.

The door is dirty. La puerta está sucia.

“Is it a characteristic or a condition?” is definitely

the trickiest part of ser/estar. But it’s not the ONLY

part. Remember, there are lots of other times you

need to decide if you need ser or estar. Don’t look

at a sentence like

Juan _______ en clase.

and ask yourself “Is it a characteristic or condition?”

because “en clase” is NOT an adjective. You only

ask yourself the question “characteristic or

condition” IF YOU HAVE AN ADJECTIVE.

Another tricky aspect: do you know what predicate

adjectives are? A predicate adjective is an

adjective that follows the verb and describes the

subject:

Juan is tall.

“Tall” comes after the verb and describes Juan.

A predicate noun is a noun that follows the verb

and renames the subject:

Juan is a student.

“Student” comes after the verb and renames (is the

same person as) Juan.

To sum up:

To decide whether you need ser or estar, ask yourself

these three questions:

1. Is it showing location?

2. Is this the progressive?

3. Is there a predicate adjective?

If the answer to all three is “no,” you have ser. If the

answer to 1 or 2 is “yes,” you have estar. If the

answer to 3 is “yes,” ask yourself, “Is the predicate

adjective telling me a characteristic of the subject or

a condition of the subject?”