Verbs: Ser and Estar

Show notes:

“To be or not to be: that is the question.”

In this podcast we will be discussing the two different verbs for “to be”. In Spanish we say either ser or estar when we want to convey the meaning “to be”.

Every year, I ask my Spanish two students if they can tell me the difference between ser and estar. They usually regurgitate the easy-to-teach responses that they heard from they’re first year teachers: Ser is permanent and Estar is temporary. Others will fumble over an acronym or list of occasions that a teacher made them memorize. Neither of those techniques worked for me when I was learning Spanish – the first seemed to have too many exceptions and the second was entirely too cumbersome to use if I were in a conversation with somebody and having to stop mid-sentence in order to drill through a memorized list of situations just to be able to use the correct verb in the sentence that was stopped. Instead, I will give you a less concrete example of when the light bulb went on for me to understand the difference…

...and it continues through the episode. Here are the acronyms discussed in this podcast:

Estar: P.L.A.C.E. - Position Location Action Condition Emotion

Ser: T.O.P. - Time/Trait Occupation/Origin Possession/Profession

Examples:

USES OF SER

- To express characteristic, a description, or an identification.

(a) Characteristics

La sopa es buena The soup is good

El profesor es estricto the teacher is strict

(b) Description

Martha es alta Martha a tall

El señor Salas es rico Mr. Salas is rich

(c) Identification

¿Quién es? Who is it?

Soy yo. It’s me

-To express occupation or nationality

(a) occupation

Mi primo es abogado. My cousin is a lawyer.

Ellos son contadores. They are accountants.

(b) Nationality

Ellos son espñoles. They are Spanish.

Ella es peruana. She is Peruvian.

- To express time and dates

(a) Time

Son las dos. It’s two o’clock.

Es medianoche. It’s midnight.

(b) Dates

Es el tres de mayo. It’s May 3.

Es el primero de abril. It’s April 1.

- With de, to express origin, possession, or material.

(a) Origin

Ella es de México. She is from Mexico.

Las naranjas son de Valencia. The oranges are from Valencia.

(b) Possession

Ese reloj es de Carmen. It’s Carmen’s watch.

La casa es de mi tío. It’s my uncle’s house.

(c) Material

La blusa es de seda. The blouse is silk.

Las joyas son de oro.  The jewelry is gold.

USES OF ESTAR

- To express location or position.

 Madrid está es España. Madrid is in Spanish.

Mi tío está en Mexico. My uncle is in Mexico.

El libro está es la mesa. The book is on the table.

¿Dónde están los niños? Where are the children?

- To express a condition or state (emotions, health)

La sopa está caliente. The soup is hot.

María está sentada. Maria is seated.

El señor Salas está triste. Mr. Salas is sad.

¿Cómo está usted? Estoy muy bien. How are you? I am very well.

La ventana está abierta. The window is open.

- To express action in progress

Ellos están estudiando. They are studying.

Estoy escribiendo. I am writing.

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