1. Many books have been written about the two important Spanish verbs: SER and ESTAR. This will be the subject of our discussion for the next few lessons. Soon, you will have a very good understanding of how these two verbs are used.

2. Notice that these two sentences can have different meanings in English. The apple is green. (Meaning the apple is not ripe.) The apple is green. (Meaning the color of the apple is green.) In the first case, our example talks about the condition of the apple. The apple is green because it has not yet ripened. When the condition of the apple changes, when it has ripened, it will no longer be green, it will be ripe. In the second case, our example speaks of the description of the apple. The apple is green in color. This particular apple remains green even after it has ripened.

3. In English, the verb "to be" can be used to tell how something is (the condition) and what something is (the essence/description). How is the apple? It is unripe. What color is the apple? It is green. Note how the adjective "verde" actually changes meaning, depending upon whether it is used with ser or estar. La manzana está verde. (condition: verde = unripe) La manzana es verde. (description: verde = color green)

4. Estar is an irregular verb. It does not follow the standard rules of conjugation for regular -ar verbs. Therefore, you must memorize it. Estar = to be yo estoy tú estás él ella usted está nosotros estamos vosotros estáis ellos ellas ustedes están

5. Ser is also irregular and must be memorized. Ser = to be yo soy tú eres él ella usted es nosotros somos vosotros sois ellos ellas ustedes son

6. LET’S TAKE A LOOK

8. SER ESTAR  Description  Time / Date  Origin (de)  Profession  Identification  Characteristics *(Activities/Events)  Health  Location (en)  Conditions feelings feelings hot / cold hot / cold open / closed open / closed dirty / clean dirty / clean *Present Progressive ar = ando er/ir= iendo

9. SER DTOPIC

10. DESCRIPTION  El ES inteligente (He is intelligent) (He is intelligent)  Los libros SON grandes (The books are big) (The books are big) Ser is used to describe anything. A person, place or thing.

11. TIME / DATE  Son las 10 y cinco de la noche. (It is 10:05 in the evening) (It is 10:05 in the evening)  Es el nueve de mayo. (It is May 9 th.) (It is May 9 th.)

12. ORIGIN Origin talks about where you are from. This never changes.  Yo soy de Argentina. (I am from Argentina) (I am from Argentina)  Ellos son de Somers (They are from Somers) (They are from Somers)

13. PROFESSION (Permanent) ¿Cuál es tu profesión?  Yo soy estudiante. (I am a student) (I am a student)  Él es carpintero. (He is a carpenter) (He is a carpenter) * Most people tend to have one profession for the rest of their careers.

14. IDENTIFICATION Anything that is on an I.D card  Ella es rubia. (blonde)  Vostros sois altos. (tall)  Nosotros somos atléticos. (athletic)  Isabel es morena. (brown haired)

15. CHARACTERISTICS/PERSON ALITY  Juan y Rafael son deportistas. (Juan & Rafael are sporty) (Juan & Rafael are sporty)  El payaso es cómico. (The clown is funny) (The clown is funny)  Evan es inteligente. (Evan is intelligent) (Evan is intelligent)

16. ADDITIONAL NOTES: EVENTS/ACTIVITIES Ser is used to tell where an activity/event is taking place.   La película es en el cine. The movie is at the theatre.   La fiesta es en el club Fantástico. The party is in the Fantastic Club.

17. ESTAR HLC

18. HEALTH  Carmen está enferma (Carmen is sick)  El pájaro está muerto. ( The bird is dead) ( The bird is dead)  Alberto y Rafael están sanos. (Albert & Rafael are healthy)

19. LOCATION Estar is used to express geographic or physical locations. ¿ Dónde estás? Estoy en casa Chile está en América del Sur. ¿Dónde está Chile?

20. CONDITION Conditions: (opposites / can change easily)  hot / cold  open / closed  Emotions: happy, sad  dirty / clean EXAMPLES:  La sopa está fría  La puerta está cerrada  Ricardo está contento.

21. Estar is used with some IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS. These are just a few. Estar de acuerdo (To be in agreement) Estar de pie (To be on your feet) Estar en camino (To be on your way / on the road) Estar en las nubes *(To be in the clouds / have your head in the clouds)

22. Estar is used with the PROGRESSIVE TENSES ¿Qué están comiendo? What are they eating Están comiendo helado. They are eating ice cream. ar = ando er / ir = iendo