LanguageGuide: Spanish Grammar: Ser vs. Estar

Ser vs. Estar

There are two 'to be' verbs in Spanish. Estar is used to describe the current state of something- how it is at that moment. Ser is used to describe the nature and characteristics of something.

	La noche es oscura.	Night is dark. (in general)
	El cuarto está oscuro. Las luces no funcionan. The room is dark. The lights aren't working.

	Jorge es guapo.	Jorge is a handsome guy.
	Jorge está guapo.	Jorge looks handsome. (Maybe he is wearing a suit or combed his hair)

	La falda es roja.	The skirt is red.
	El semáforo está rojo.	The street light is red.

	Maria es loca. Ella vive en un manicomio. Mary is crazy. She lives in an insane asylum.
	Maria está loca.	Maria is crazy (at this moment).

	Irene es alegre.	Irene is a happy person.
	Eduardo está alegre.	Eduardo is happy (right now).

Estar is also used to to when describing location.

	Tus padres están aqui.	Your parents are here.
	La salida está allá.	The exit is there.

Both ser and estar are irregular verbs...

ser

yo	soy
tu	eres
él / ella	es
nosotros / nosotras	somos
vosotros/ vosotras	sois
ellos / ellas	son

estar

yo	estoy
tu	estás
él / ella	está
nosotros / nosotras	estamos
vosotros / vosotras	estáis
ellos / ellas	están

Now would be a good time to study miscellaneous irregular verbs.

The infinitive (el infinitivo) is displayed at the top of each verb's conjugation table. Besides serving to identify a verb, it is employed whenever the tense or the person of the subject need not be indicated. This is the case when verbs are strung together. The first verb marks the tense and person. The infinitive is used for the second.

	Él va a llamar más tarde.	He is going to call later.
	Tu debes ir más temprano.	You should go earlier.
	Ella nunca puede llegar a tiempo.	She can never arrive on time.
	Yo quiero ser ingeniero.	I want to be an engineer.

or when a verb follows a preposition.

Para terminar las tareas, la disciplina es muy importante.
To finish homework, discipline is very important.