There are few things more confusing for beginning Spanish students, at least those who have English as their first language, than learning the differences between ser and estar. After all, they both mean "to be" in English.
And since both verbs are frequently used, they are as irregular as can be.
Today in this blog, we will focus only with the present tense.
Just remember when learning a foreign language that we don't translate words from one language to another, we translate meanings. And many of our English verbs, "to be" among them, have a multitude of meanings.
Differences between ser and estar
the verb ser is kind of a passive verb and estar as the active one. Ser tells you what something is, the nature of its being, while estar refers more to what something does or feels at the moment of the action. For example: How are you? Como estas? means exactly how you feel at this moment, in this exact second....
Estoy feliz = I am happy right now, I feel happy today
While using the verb ser will mean how you feel most of the time or how your personality is... for example Soy muy feliz = Meaning I am a happy person most of the time is part of my personality
I might use soy (the first-person present of ser) to tell you what I am, but I'd use estoy (the first-person present of estar) to tell you what I am being.
Another example. I might say, "Estoy enfermo." That would tell you that I am being sick, that I am sick at the moment. But it doesn't tell you what I am.
Now if I were to say, "Soy enfermo," that would have a different meaning entirely. That would refer to who I am, to the nature of my being. We might translate that as "I am a sick person" or "I am sickly."
Note similar differences in these examples:
· Estoy cansado, I am tired. Soy cansado, I am a tired person.
· Estoy feliz, I'm happy now. Soy feliz, I am happy by nature.
· Está callada, she's being quiet. Es callada, she's introverted.
· No soy listo, I'm not a quick thinker. No estoy listo, I'm not ready.
You can also think that estar often refers to a temporary condition, while ser frequently refers to a permanent condition. But there are some exceptions.
Among the major exceptions to the above way of thinking is that ser is used in expressions of time, such as "Son las dos de la tarde" for "It's 2 p.m."
Also, we use estar to indicate someone has died — quite a permanent condition: Está muerto, he is dead. This I personally believe comes from religion, because my assumption is that catholic is the main religion linked to the language and therefore, life does not end with death instead you go somewhere else, like heaven or hell. ** please just an assumption not grammatically proved.
Another exception, estar is used to indicate location. Estoy en casa, I am at home. Where is the bank? donde esta el banco... which can be confusing because the location of the bank is pretty much permanent. But our language is so rich as every language that if you accept that location is always estar... you are fine!
But, soy de Ecuador, I am from Ecuador, that is something permanent... It means you will always be from your country regardless where you are right now. Soy de Ecuador pero ahora estoy en Suiza. Nationality is part of your being and it will not change.
There are also a few idiomatic expressions that simply need to be learned, although that comes naturally with time: La manzana es verde, the apple is green. La manzana está verde, the apple is unripe. Está muy bien la comida, the meal tastes very good.
Note that sometimes estar is modified by an adverb such as bien rather than being followed by an adjective. Estoy bien, I'm fine.
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