Difference between Ser & Estar
Examples of Ser with Places or Things:
- Los tacos son deliciosos.
- Atlanta es una ciudad grande.
- El restaurante es bueno.
- Miami es una ciudad bella.
- El parque Piedmont es popular.
These examples use Ser in Spanish because we are either describing/ providing more info and details about a subject. This is the nature of Ser! Need to practice Ser? Get our affordable Ser conjugations worksheets!
When do you use Estar?
- Talking about WHERE a subject is ( not who they are)
- Talking about a subject’s emotional state!
- Talking about the condition of a subject.
Estar is a more hard working verb because I handles 3 things! Ser really just does one job- very well but still 1 🙂
Conjugations of Estar in Spanish:
Yo estoy
Tù estàs
Èl/ella/usted està
Nosotros estamos
Ellos/ ellas/ ustedes estàn
How to use Estar in Spanish?
- Yo estoy en la casa.
- La escuela està en Atlanta.
- Ellas estan en el parque Piedmont.
- Mi familia està en Italia.
- La doctora està en el hospital.
- Yo estoy triste.
- Melinda està enferma
- El coche està sucio.
Most of these examples are about location! The WHERE of the subject. This is how you use Estar! Example #6 is about the person’s emotional state! It talks about the person’s feelings. Example #7 talks about the subject’s condition= being unwell! & #8 talks about the condition of the car!
Estar can be more complicated. Focus on the where; the location aspect of this verb. Get comfortable with that first, then work on emotions & conditions. Spanish in Atlanta offers affordable practice worksheets for Ser & conjugating Estar verb worksheets as well. Written work is key for retention and mastery!
Rare Exceptions of Ser & Estar
It’s rare but there are times when you can use BOTH Ser and Estar!
LOL don’t worry! First make sure that you work on the normal functions of Ser and Estar! Afterwards, you can work on the exceptions. Below are some examples of how a sentence and it’s message can change drastically by just changing the Ser or Estar verb.
Examples of Ser & Estar Exceptions:
- Ella està enferma.
- Ella es enferma.
- Ellos son felices
- Ellos estàn felices
- Èl es loco.
- Èl està loco.
Ella està enferma just means that this person´s (the subject) health condition is bad! This person is sick; has an illness etc… VS Ella es enferma which speaks about the person being sick- a sick person! When you use SER you are treating enferma like an adjective instead of a condition. That is why Estar is the best choice!
Ellos son felices refers to the personality. Felices is being used to describe the person versus their emotional state so saying Ellos estàn felices only focuses on the subject´s emotions- feelings not their personality type.
Èl es loco would mean this person is mad loco! lol Should be locked up or given medications versus Èl està loco which means this person is acting that way- you are sharing your observation about ¨where¨they are emotionally etc… and not their personality.
How to practice Ser & Estar ?
- Practice introducing yourself in Spanish & others.
- Talk about your location- where you are everyday.
- Print our conjugations chart for Estar
- Do written work & practice conjugating Ser & Estar.
- Take a family group foto & introduce everyone.
- Purchase our affordable Ser conjugations worksheets!
- Look at people & describe their emotional state.
Spanish in Atlanta creates a lot of free Spanish practice content & affordable practice worksheets. If you would like to see us include free mini quizzes, comment below!
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