2.2: ¨Ser¨ y ¨estar¨ - una introducción

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In the first chapter, we saw that the verb ¨estar¨ is translated as ¨to be¨ in English.

In this chapter, we have just been introduced to the verb ¨ser¨ that is also translated as ¨to be¨ in English.
We decide which one of these verbs to use based on context and on what we want to communicate.
Let´s take a quick look at the basics of both of these verbs before we go on to practice one of the contexts in which ¨ser¨ is often used:

Estar

Ubicación (location) – not of an event

¿Dónde estás? – Where are you?

Estoy en clase. – I´m in class.

Estado o condición (state or condition)

¿Cómo estás?

Estoy bien.

En el presente progresivo (in the present progressive, to describe actions in progress)

¿Qué estás haciendo? – What are you doing?

Estoy estudiando. – I am studying.

Ser

Equivalencies

Yo soy estudiante. - I am a student.

Miguel es argentino. – Miguel is Argentinian.

Carlos y Pedro son profesores. – Carlos and Pedro are professors.

Marta y Teresa son amigas. – Marta and Theresa are friends.

Hoy es martes, el 11 de mayo. – Today is Tuesday, the eleventh of May.

Son las once de la mañana. – It is eleven in the morning.

Caractarísticas inherentes (Inherent characteristics)

Martín es inteligente.

Milagros es creativa.

Hannah y Alejandra son artísticas.

Ubicación (location) de eventos (con el significado de ocurrir) en el espacio y / o el tiempo.

¿Dónde es el concierto?

Es en Houston.

¿Cuándo es?

Es mañana.

Ojo

Many books give long lists of which contexts to use ¨ser¨ in and many of these are contexts in which there is a noun or pronoun as the subject which is equal to a noun and pronoun in the predicate. For example, ¨I am a teacher.¨ Books will tell you that we use ¨ser¨ for professions. However, that is not the reason for its use, but rather the fact that ¨I¨ is a pronoun that is equated with the noun ¨teacher.¨ This can be helpful to keep in mind because it reduces the number of rules we have to memorize.

Another rule that students often learn is that ¨ser¨ is for permanant and ¨estar¨ is for temporary. This is not completely accurate. For example, ¨Miguel y Anita son novios.¨ Will they always be boyfriend and girlfriend? Perhaps not, but we still use ¨ser¨ because Miguel y Anita are nouns equated with the noun ¨novios.¨ Another example, ¨El pájaro está muerto.¨ (The bird is dead.) Is that temporary? Perhaps not, but we use ¨estar¨ because ¨muerto¨ is not an inherent characteristic. Rather, it is a state or contition.

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