Pair the following rules with the idea in our grammar packet:
condition versus “consubstantial”
tired/ busy/alone attractive/nice/intelligent
SER:
1 time/date
2 nationality / profession
/relationship (i.e. es mi hermano)
3 “is made of” (material)
4 description (¿cómo es? ¿qué es?)
5 directly before a noun (no preposition separating
verb from noun)
6 ser + past participle to form a
passive:
“The country was conquered.”
I don’t believe that this is something you
have seen yet.
We generally
tell beginners to avoid this because it
works quite differently than English.
ESTAR
7 location (except the location of an event)
8 with the gerund (está corriendo = he is running)
9 with adjectives that answer: ¿Cómo está? ¿Cómo
estás? (How are you?)
10 when speaking about a food you
are actually eating, estar = to taste
SER y ESTAR
11
specific words change meaning with ser or estar (all of these except the last are from SPA101-102)
es verde
= it is (the color) green está verde= unripe
es un borracho =drunkard (insult!!)
está borracho
= drunk
es aburrido =boring está aburrido =bored
es listo = intelligent (maybe street smarts) está listo = somebody is ready
es seguro
it’s safe (a safe bet) está seguro
= somebody is sure (feels
certain)
12 specific adjectives are “always” used with either ser or estar
ESTAR contento/
lleno (full)
/ enfermo (sick) / muerto (dead) ß ESTAR casado fit loosely in this category
SER cierto (it’s true) ß
SER soltero As I said in
class, native speakers
will change these, but a learner will
always be right
with estar casado and ser soltero
13 There are many things which we say with “to be” in English but not in
Spanish. ¡There is/there are = hay!
I am 20 years old = Tengo veinte años
I’m hungry/thirsty/cold/right = tengo hambre/sed/ frío/razón
etc.
I am late (to talk about a person) = llegar tarde Voy a llegar
tarde
DON'T FORGET SYNONYMS for ser or estar are common:
Quedar or encontrarse are very common substitutions for speaking about location, especially permanent things.
La biblioteca queda cerca de mi oficina.
Me encuentro en la oficina ahora mismo.
verse = to look He looks sad (Se ve triste).
parecer / sentirse
