UNIT EIGHT
Unit 8 ser and estar
We have already seen that there are two verbs meaning ‘to be’ in Spanish, ser and estar
(see Unit 4), and we have observed some basic differences between them as follows:
ser is used to express permanent characteristics of a person or object:
Susana es inteligente.
Susana is intelligent.
Soy ingles.
I am English.La casa es grande.
The house is big.estar is used to express temporary states:
¿Cómo estás?
How are you?No estoy bien.
I am not very well.estar is used for positions and locations, whether they are temporary or permanent:
Madrid está en España.
Madrid is in Spain.Los libros están en la mesa.
The books are on the table.In the examples given above the use of one or the other verb is generally clear-cut and
will cause no problem once learned. In other cases the distinction between the two verbs
is more difficult to understand, particularly when the verb ‘to be’ is followed by an
adjective.
Sometimes the choice of verb might be related to the speaker’s perception of the
situation and not to an objective reality: