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Ser vs. Estar: How to Get the Spanish “To Be” Verbs Right Every Time

One of the most common things that Spanish learners struggle with is how to tell the difference between two Spanish verbs that both mean “to be”: ser and estar.

Since two words have one meaning in Spanish, this is often a difficult aspect of Spanish to get down for many learners.

But have no fear. This guide will take you through how and when to use these two verbs in Spanish, and soon you’ll find choosing ser or estar comes naturally!

Contents

The Difference Between Ser and Estar

Simply put, ser is used to describe the “essence of things”—the things that make something what it is and are unlikely to change—and estar is used to talk about temporary states, locations or conditions.

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When to Use Ser

1. Descriptions

Ser is used for both physical descriptions and character descriptions or personality traits. It is also used to describe where someone is from and their nationality. The same rules apply for things.

Don’t forget to use the correct gender when using adjectives. If you’re a girl, you’ll probably want to use adjectives ending in “a” when describing yourself, if you’re a boy, go for “o.”

2. Occupation

A person’s job is also deemed to contribute to their “essence,” so we also use ser in this case. To ask someone what they do for a living, you can ask, “¿De qué trabajas?” , and you’ll receive the reply, “Soy + [their job].

Note that you do not use the indefinite article un/una (a/an) when talking about jobs. 

3. Relationships

Ser is also used to describe relationships between people

4. Possession

When talking about things that belong to you or other people, you should always use ser.

5. Time

We also use ser when talking about the time:

6. Event Locations

It is important to know that in most cases, estar will be used when referring to location, but not always. There is a case in which ser is used to refer to location, and that is when talking about where an event is going to take place

7. Climate (but Not Weather)

While ser is not used to describe day-to-day weather, it is used to describe the general climate of a place or time.

When to Use Estar

1. Temporary States

Estar is used to describe temporary states such as temporary situations, or temporary physical and emotional states. This would include things like mood or sickness. 

2. Ongoing Actions

The verb estar is also used to make the present continuous tense, which is used to describe actions happening in or around the moment of speaking.

These would be temporary actions or conditions that are only happening right now and are assumed to end within the near future. 

To make this tense, you need the verb estar in the present tense before the stem of the verb plus “-ando” (-AR verbs) or “-endo” (-IR/-ER verbs).

estoy   estamos
estás
    estáis              +           Verb stem + (-ando/-endo)
está      están

Examples are:

3. Location

When describing where something or someone is, you also need to use our temporary friend estar

4. Weather

We use estar to describe weather when it is in a temporary state. 

5. Opinions

We can also use estar as a descriptive adjective to express an opinion about the physical appearance of someone or something or to indicate that there is something unexpected about them.

Why Is It Important to Use Ser and Estar Correctly?

While they both technically mean the same thing, it is very important to know the difference between ser and estar so that you can say what you mean to say. Using the wrong form of “to be” can lead to misunderstandings and confusion.

There’s a big difference between being bored and being a boring person, and saying someone is good-looking or a good person.

The best way to pick up on this is by immersing yourself with authentic Spanish media like texts and videos. This will help you realize context and see how these differences are applied. 

You can find a variety of helpful sources online or with language learning programs such as FluentU, which allows you to watch native Spanish clips and learn with learning tools.

Seeing how these two verbs are used in context by native speakers will improve your Spanish, and get you one step closer to fluency.

Common Mistakes with Ser and Estar

Ser Aburrido/a vs. Estar Aburrido/a

Soy aburrido /a means “I’m boring.” This means your entire essence is boring, and you are a boring person. You might want to say es aburrido/a (he/she/it is boring) when describing someone or something, but don’t blame us if someone is insulted by this declaration.

Estoy aburrido /a translates to “I’m bored.” Notice that estar is used for temporary states and this expression demonstrates a temporary state of boredom.

Ser Feliz vs. Estar Feliz

Es feliz means someone is a happy person, whereas está feliz  means someone is temporarily happy.

Both are useful, but it’s important to know the difference between a perpetually happy person and someone who is just temporarily satisfied.

Es Muerto vs. Está Muerto

In this case, you will only ever use está muerto (he’s dead). Always use estar to describe dead things or people. 

Death is always seen as a temporary state, so es muerto will never be used.

La Fiesta Es vs. La Fiesta Está 

As mentioned before, when describing where a planned event takes place we use ser and not estar, even though we’re describing location.

So la fiesta es en mi casa (The party’s at my house) is correct, even though we’re talking about the location of the party. The same applies to any pre-planned event such as meetings, weddings, or parties.

Keep in mind that when describing the party itself, we will indeed use estar: la fiesta está muy divertida. (The party is so fun).”

Es Bueno vs. Está Bueno

Está bueno/a translates to he/she is good-looking. This one is definitely useful in some contexts, but should probably be avoided in others.

If you want to say someone is good in general, use es bueno. 

Conjugating Ser and Estar

Ser and estar are both considered irregular in Spanish, so it’s best to memorize them.

Here’s how they are conjugated in the main three verb tenses:

SerPresentPreteriteFuture
yo Soy Fui Seré
tu Eres Fuiste Serás
él, ella, usted Es Fue Será
nosotros Somos Fuimos Seremos
vosotros Sois Fuisteis Seréis
ellos, ellas, ustedes Son Fueron Serán
SubjectPresentPreteriteFuture Simple
Yo Estoy Estuve Estaré 
Estás Estuviste  Estarás 
Él/Ella/Usted Está Estuvo  Estará 
Nosotros Estamos Estuvimos  Estaremos 
Vosotros Estáis Estuvisteis  Estaréis 
Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes Están Estuvieron  Estarán 

Ser vs. Estar Quiz: Test Yourself!

0%
______________ (yo) feliz hoy. (I'm happy today.)
Correct! Wrong!

Nosotros ______________ profesores. (We are professors.)
Correct! Wrong!

____________ en mi casa. (I'm at home.)
Correct! Wrong!

¿ ____________ cansados por el viaje? (Are you tired from traveling?)
Correct! Wrong!

Ella _________ mi novia. (She is my girlfriend.)
Correct! Wrong!

________ bien. (We are good.)
Correct! Wrong!

Carla te __________ esperando. (Carla is waiting for you.)
Correct! Wrong!

¿Y tú quién __________ ? (And who are you?)
Correct! Wrong!

___________ tu familia. (We are your family.)
Correct! Wrong!

__________ esperando en la fila. (I'm waiting in line)

Please select 2 correct answers

Correct! Wrong!

 

Although learning the difference between ser and estar can be difficult, it will come with time and practice. 

With constant practice, you’ll know which circumstances require each type of “to be” in Spanish.

And One More Thing…

If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:

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FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.

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Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.

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