Verbs - Ser and Estar

Details

Last Updated: Tuesday, 14 January 2025 16:15

Published: Friday, 01 September 2023 03:06

Hits: 535

"To be", Referential or linking verbs:

These are verbs which conjoin with other verbs to add semantic information. ex: is, am, are, etc. i didn't know that these are called "to be" verbs. "To be" means to exist or show connection to something, so "to be" verbs are am, is, are, was, were, been, being, etc. We looked at verb transformation for regular verbs (i.e walk changes to walks, walking, walked, etc), but we also need these "to be" verbs to connect subject to verb. Look at the table for Pronouns, and note that these linking verbs go exactly same way as the pronouns. These linking verbs have similar transformation as real verbs above. This will help us construct sentences, as these are most used words in any language.

To be: Present, past and future forms (is, was, will be) of these "to be" verbs have their own transformation table. They come in 2 flavors, i.e I am" will be transformed in 2 diff ways depending on temporary or permanent condition. In English, I say "I am tall" and "I am sick" with same "am" verb. But in Spanish, "I'm tall" is a permanent condition, while "I am sick" is a temporary condition. So, different forms of "am" are used in the 2 sentences depending on whether it's permanent or temporary condition. This is a different concept than other languages. Let's look at 2 versions. These are 2 forms of "to be":

• Ser: This is one of the verbs for "to be". ser is used for "to be", but it's for things that are more permanent. Remember "POPIN" = Permanent condition, occupation, place of origin,  identification, nationality => These are the situations where ser is used. When we say "I am a doctor", it's more of a permanent condition, so ser used. ex: She is tall => Ella es alta. Here "es" used as it's Ser form of "is", and condition is permanent. You can think of ser as an "-er" verb for singular form, and "-or" verb (imaginary verb for remembering purpose, since instead of e, we transform to o) for plural form. Look at the table below. Let's look at all 3 tense:
  
  • Present Tense: Ser is transformed to mean am, are, is. "I am" is translated to "yo soy", but usually we omit yo (as is common in Spanish), and just say "soy". Verb remains unchanged here. Shown in table below.
  • Past Tense: Here Ser transforms to was, were, etc. This follows same past tense table as of "to go" verb (see in "ir" section). So, "I was" or "I went" both translate to "fui". The complete table is shown later at the bottom.
  • Future tense: There are 2 ways of describing future tense with ser.
    • Informal Future Tense: Here we use form "going to be" (see in ir section too).This is where we use "ser" word as it implies things in future (i.e to be) => I'm going to be a .... This follows same table as future tense table of "to go". ex: I'm going to be a doctor => Voy a ser médico. (NOTE: "going to" always has "a" to indicate "to")
    • Formal future tense: Here, we use form "will be". This uses 3x2 conjugation table of future tense of ser. All verbs have same future tense conjugation, so follow that table => seré, serás, será, etc. Ex: He will be famous => el será  famoso.
  • Imperfect past tense: Explained in table below.
  • NOTE: Both past and future tense follow table of verb "ir" which means "to go". For Present tense, table is shown below.

• Estar: This is the other verb for "to be". Verb "estar" is often used to talk about temporary states of being, i.e I'm sick. Verb Ser was used for permanent state, but estar is used for temporary state. As a rule => Anything that is "Feelings or location", use estar, else use, ser. We'll see this in more detail below. We saw the pronoun base word "est" which was for this/these. This is different than that. Estar can be thought of as "-ar" verb. Let's look at all 3 tense:
  
  • Present Tense: Estar is transformed to mean am, are, is. "I am" is translated to "yo estoy", but we usually omit yo, and just say "estoy". Verb remains unchanged here. Shown in table below.
  • Present Progressive: This refers to verb in present, but it's progressing right now. Looks like this tense can only exist for temporary thing (so only estar form exists, no ser form). In English, they are verbs ending in -ing. ex: I am studying. Depending on -ar, -ir, -er verb, we transform the verb slightly here. So, we use linking verb (am, are, etc), and then modify the verb to end it in -ing. Details => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntY7ziEsxpI
    • -ar verbs => -ando (change verb from -ar to -ando). For -ar verb, we take both a and then add "ndo"
      • ex: I study => yo estudio. I'm studying => yo estoy estudiando.
    • -ir/-er verbs => -iendo (pronounced as ee-ando). For -ir and -er verb, we take both i and e and then add "ndo"
      • ex: she eats => ella come. she is eating => ella está comeiendo
      • ex: we write => nosotros escribimos. we are writing => nosotros estamos escribiendo
      • Exceptions with -er verbs: Words with 2 e in between (leer, creer, etc) are transformed to -yendo instead of -iendo (i is replaced by y). ex: leer => leyendo, creer => creyendo.
        • ex: I am reading => yo estoy leyendo.
    • ir verb: This is NOT -ir, but ir verb by itself which means to go. Here ir is changed to yendo (y is silent)
      
      • ex: I go => ir.  I am going => Yo estoy yendo
    • irregular -ing form: These are ones that don't follow rules above. need to give examples. FIXME.
  • Past Tense: Here estar transforms to was, were, etc. This follows same past tense table as of "to have" verb (see in "tener" section), with a prefix es- added. So, base word is "estuv" for transformation purpose. This is preterito (or V2 form in English). It implies actions already happened a while back. So, "I was tired"  translates to "estuve cansado".
    
    • Past tense (estuv): ex: Yesterday Maria was sick. The complete table is shown later at the bottom.
      
      • 1st, 2nd, 3rd person (singular): estuve, estuviste, estuvo.
      • 1st, 2nd, 3rd person (plural): estuvimos, estuvisteis, estuviron.
  • Future tense: Similar to what we saw in Ser, there are 2 ways of describing future tense with estar.
    • Informal Future Tense: Here we use form "going to be" (see in ir section too).This is where we use "estar" word as it implies things in future (i.e to be) => I'm going to be a .... This follows same pattern as future tense of "ser", except that we replace ser with estar. ex: I am going to be sad => Voy a estar triste. ex: I am going to be late => Voy a llegar tarde. Here estar got translated to "llegar".
    • Formal future tense: Here, we use form "will be". This uses 3x2 conjugation table of future tense of estar. Exact same conjugation as ser as future form are same for all verbs  => estaré, estarás, estará, etc. Ex: He will be tired (temporary state) => el estará cantado.
  • Imperfect past tense (estab): There is also another form of this verb in "imperfect past tense" which implies "action is still ongoing by putting you in middle of it, or action just completed). For this we use imperfect past tense form which is "estab". ex: Yesterday, Marta was sick when I visited her => Ayer Marta estaba enferma cuando la visité. Explained in table below.

Ser OR Estar; For some conditions, it's difficult to gauge whether it's permanent or not. Ex: fat. You are fat => tú eres gordo OR tú estás gordo, We may use either ser or estar, though estar is more common. Fat doesn't really imply one has always been fat. Similarly for word "old". On other hand, I'm a man => Soy un hombre. Here ser used, as someone who is a man is permanent.

Here's video by "Butterfly Spanish" on when to use ser vs estar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFmmvdANZl0

One more by "Spanish Tutor": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7c0IlnBr7k

Below ser/estar usage is just guidance. There are lot of exceptions where below rules won't apply. So, just start using w/o logically overthinking and overtime you will start using them correctly.

This video by "Real Fast Spanish" shows all the exceptions => https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oinp8mk9cGE

Ser is used in following permanent instances. "Anything that is factual", use ser form.

• POPIN: Permanent condition, occupation, Place of origin, Identification, Nationalty,
  
  • ex: I'm => soy morena
  • ex: Are you from Argentina? =>  ¿eres de Argentina? we are from Cuba => somos de Cuba ("are from somewhere" => ser + de). Where are you from? => ¿De dónde eres? (from where, you are?). I'm from the United States => Soy de los estados unidos. What city are you from? => ¿De qué ciudad eres?
  • ex: The table is square / big => la mesa es quadrada / grande
• Physical traits:  These are treated as permanent.
  • ex: you are beautiful => tú eres bonito/bonita
•  Generalization:
  • It is important to work =>es importante tarbajar
• Possession: i.e who owns it
  • This blouse is mine => la blusa es mía
• When and where are events OR When telling time/date (where is a location, but still ser is used)::
  • The party is in the club => la fiesta es en el club
  • The party is at 6 => la fiesta es a las seis.(see in "common word" section too)
  • What time is it? => ¿Qué hora es?. It is one => es la una. See more in "Common words" section.
• Inquire about something. If it's bout "where is something", then it's estar (as it's location, see below)
  • What is it? => ¿Qué es?. It is a book => es el libro.

Estar is used in following temporary instances, i.e something that is happening right now, and most likely to change in near future:. As a rule, anything that is not from these 3 conditions "feelings/conditions, location and -ing", it's is almost always a "ser" form. Ser is for factual statements. For anything that's not factual, use "estar". Location is the only odd thing - both ser and estar used. When location refers to where an event is happening, ser sis used, but when it refers where somethng is located, estar is used.

• Temporary conditions and Emotions: i.e "How you feel" is temporary condition.
  
  • ex: How are you => ¿Cómo estás? We also use " ¿Qué tal estás?. Response is => I'm good / bad / sad => estoy bien / mal /  triste
  • The door is open => la puerta está abierta.
• Location: i.e "Where we are" is temporary condition. It is nearby, next to, 5 minutes away, etc all show location, so use estar.
  
  • ex: Where are you? => ¿Dónde estás (tú)? Response is => We are at market => estamos en mercado.
  • ex: Where is the store? => ¿Dónde está la tienda? It is to the north => está al norte (a + el = al)
  • ex: Austin is in Texas => Austin está en Texas => Here está is used even though it's permanent (as location always uses estar)
• Present progressive => -ing form. It's always temporary condition, as -ing can't be used with permanent things.
  
  • I'm speaking/eating => yo estoy hablando/comiendo
• Also used in weather conditions. I see ex where ser is used, instead of estar. ex: The weather is good today => el clima es bueno hoy (NOTE: el clima used as clima is masculine. So, bueno used)
• Exceptions: ex: He is dead => el está muerto. This is permanent, but still estar used. No logic to this.

Ser is used more often than Estar. "es" is the most commonly used word which stands for "is". Sometimes ser and estar are both used in certain phrases as where, etc.

Present Tense for ser and estar:

Let's look at the ser and estar present form for all 6 variations:

NOTE: Ser has no accent for any of the entries, while estar has 4 entries from bottom 2 rows having an accent.

Past Tense for ser and estar:

Let's look at the ser and estar past form for all 6 variations. As explained above, past tense of ser follows past tense of "ir" verb, while past tense of estar follows past tener of tener with -es added in the front.

NOTE: None of the entries have any accent.

Future Tense for ser and estar:

As we saw before, future tense of ser/estar has 2 forms: Informal and formal. Informal form goes with "ir" verb. Formal future tense follows same conjugation as any future verb.

NOTE: For future tense, we add suffix to base verb itself (and NOT to stem)

Past Imperfect Tense for ser and estar:

As we saw in Past Imperfect section, past imperfect is used in 2 cases: 1. gerund form => I was eating 2. Habitual form => I used to play tennis. ser is an irregular verb for Past imperfect, and follows slightly different table.

• ser => Instead of suffix -ia as is done for -er verb, we follow the table for regular -ar verb, but substitute "ser" with "er".
• estar => it follows the regular past imperfect conjugation table for -ar verb. i.e estaba, estabas etc. ex: Yesterday, Marta was sick when I visited her