The verbs ser and estar both mean "to be" in English. The challenge for learners is to determine which submeaning of "be" each verb is responsible for. The following table identifies the main functions of each verb.
It's true that estar tends to be used with locations. However, it is not used to indicate where a person is from (e.g.: Soy de Canadá), nor is it used to mean "take place" for the location of an event (e.g.: La fiesta es en la calle).
Ser is used for some characteristics that might not seem permanent, for example general age and financial status, e.g.: Soy muy joven. Mi abuelo era rico.
Estar is used for some characteristics that might not seem temporary, for example death, e.g.: El presidente está muerto. Estar is always used with muerto and contento.
Ser and estar can also be used together to highlight change from the norm, e.g.: Normalmente ese joven es feliz, pero no está muy feliz hoy porque tiene un examen.
Remember that both verbs ser and estar are irregular in different tenses/moods, so be sure to review the present, future, preterite, imperfect, present subjunctive and past subunctive if you are unsure how to form these verbs.
Be careful not to confuse the 3rd person singular form of the verb estar: está (with an accent) with the demonstrative adjective esta (without an accent it means "this"). Está is a verb form while esta modifies a noun and must go before the noun. They are NOT interchangeable, e.g.: El libro está en esta mochila. NOT El libro esta en está mochila.
The choice of ser or estar with certain adjectives results in a meaning difference. Some examples are shown in the table below:
Q: Why is it soy estadounidense and NOT estoy estadounidense?
R: Use ser for nationalities, which are a part of a person's identity.
Q: Why is it estoy cansado and NOT soy cansado to say "I'm tired?"
R: Cansado is used with estar to mean "to be tired." Only use ser if you want to say "I'm tiring" (i.e. a tiring person to others).
Q: Why is it el concierto es en el estadio and NOT el concierto está en el estadio?
R: Remember that you should use ser to describe the location of an event and estar to describe the location of other things.
Q: Why is it la gata está muerta and NOT la gata es muerta?
R: You should always use estar with the adjective muerto. You could perhaps reason along the lines that being dead is a condition or change of state, not an identifying characteristic.
Q: Why is it soy de Canadá and NOT estoy de Canadá?
R: Although estar is often used for location, you need to use ser to indicate place of origin.
Choose between es (ser) and está (estar):
Choose between esta and está:
Write the correct form of estar and then write the present participle to form the progressive:
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