BASIC SPANISH: A GRAMMAR AND WORKBOOK

e.g. María está muy guapa.
Maria is (looks) very pretty.

In this sentence the speaker is referring to how s/he sees Maria at this moment, not
necessarily to the reality of Maria’s appearance.
estar can never be followed directly by a noun as ser can, but both verbs can be
followed by an adjective, and this is where difficulties may arise.

ser and estar with adjectives

It is possible to give some guidelines about the use of ser and estar with adjectives, but it
must be borne in mind that only an understanding of the underlying principles and in
some cases the context will guarantee accurate use of the appropriate verb.

1 If the adjective indicates a quality that is felt by the speaker to be an inherent
characteristic of the person or thing referred to, the verb used is likely to be ser. This
type of use refers to something that is objectively verifiable:

La nieve es blanca.

Snow is white. (i.e. it is a characteristic of it)

Pedro es andaluz.

Pedro is Andalousian.

2 If the adjective refers to something that the speaker considers to be accidental or
temporary then estar is used:

Estoy muy cansada.

I am tired. (i.e. at the moment, not permanently)

Mi madre está enferma.

My mother is ill. (i.e. at the moment, not permanently)

Mi sopa está fría.

My soup is cold. (i.e. this is not a normal characteristic of soup, it

refers to the state of my soup at the moment)

In these sentences the adjectives describe qualities that are true at the time
referred to but which are not seen as inherent characteristics.
3 estar is used to express something which may or may not always be true but which the
speaker wants to stress at the time of speaking:

¡Qué guapa estás!

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