“To be” or not “to be”… Two ways “to be” ¿SER o ESTAR? “To be” or not “to be”… Two ways “to be”

En español there are dos ways to say “to be”. SER ESTAR

Ser and estar have different jobs Ser and estar have different jobs. Let’s take a look at what they are each used for.

SER is used to express… Origin (tell where someone or something is from) Ownership (possession) Occupations (jobs) Nationalities Descriptions Time and Dates Locations of events

Estar is used to express… Temporary conditions and states of being (healthy, sick, hot, cold, tired, energetic, open, closed, etc.) Feelings/emotions The location/position of someone or something The present progressive (estar + a verb ending with -ando/-iendo) Note: My Spanish teacher taught us LCP, or Location Condition Position.

Ser and estar are both infinitives. What is an infinitive? The infinitive of a verb is the verb’s base form. In English it is usually seen as “to + verb” (to be, to run, to eat, to walk). It does not have a subject. It does not show time (past, present or future).

To use ser and estar when speaking and writing, we need to conjugate them. When we conjugate verbs, we change them to match the subject. Examples: In English we start with the infinitive “to be”. When the subject is “I”, we say “I am” and not “I be”. When the subject is “you”, we say “you are” and not “you be”. When the subject is “she”, we say “she is” and not “she be”.

Conjugating SER and ESTAR I am = Yo soy You are = Tú eres He/she is = él/ella es You (formal) are = Usted es We are = Nosotros/nosotras somos You all (in Spain) are = Vosotros/vosotras sois They are = ellos/ellas son You all are = Ustedes son ESTAR I am = Yo estoy You are = Tú estás He/she is = él/ella está You (formal) are = Usted está We are = Nosotros/nosotras estamos You all (in Spain) are = Vosotros/vosotras estáis They are = ellos/ellas están You all are = Ustedes están

Las chicas __________ pelirrojas. Let’s practice a little with SER and ESTAR. We will be using third person singular and plural (he/she and they). Use this chart to help fill in the blanks in the following sentences: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están Las chicas __________ pelirrojas. son

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están Raquel y Miguel __________ tristes. están

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están El maestro __________ en casa hoy. está

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están Pepe __________ policía. es

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están El chihuahua __________ pequeño. es

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están Los estudiantes __________ locos. están o son

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están El señor __________ de Perú. es

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están __________ las tres y media. son

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están Pablo el pinguino __________ azul. es

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están Los chicos __________ estudiantes. son

Use this chart to help fill in the blank in the following sentence: SER (permanente) ESTAR (temporal) 3rd Person Singular (he/she) es está 3rd Person Plural (they) son están El libro __________ encima de la mesa. está