Ser or estar? Which “to be” to use
Two verbs, one English word, and a rule that is not about permanence
Spanish splits “to be” into two verbs. Ser says what something is: identity, origin, what it is made of, what time it is. Estar says how or where something is at the moment: states, moods, position, and anything still going on.
Almost every learner is taught this as permanent against temporary. That test is easy to remember and it will let you down, because plenty of permanent things take estar and plenty of passing ones take ser. Job, not duration, is the thing to hold on to.
ser
What something is
- Identity and jobs
- Origin and material
- Time, dates and events
Mi madre es profesora.My mother is a teacher.
estar
How or where it is
- Moods and states
- Where a person or thing is
- Actions in progress
El banco está cerca.The bank is nearby.
On this page
What each verb is for
Both verbs come out as “is”, “am” or “are” in English, so English gives you no signal at all. Spanish is asking a question your own language never makes you answer: are you naming the thing, or describing the state it is in?
| ser | estar | |
|---|---|---|
| The job | Names what something is. | Describes how or where something is. |
| The question it answers | What is this? Who is this? When is it? | How is it right now? Where is it? |
| Typical use | Identity, profession, origin, material, time and dates, the hour. | Moods and physical states, position, and the progressive: estoy hablando. |
| Example | Mi madre es profesora.My mother is a teacher. | Estás cansado.You are tired. |
Being a teacher is part of who she is, so it is ser. Being tired is the state you are in right now, so it is estar. Notice that neither sentence is about how long anything lasts. She could give up teaching next week and it would still be es profesora today.
The forms, side by side
Both are irregular in the present, and both are worth knowing cold, because you will reach for one of them in almost every sentence you ever say.
| ser | estar | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | estoy |
| tú | eres | estás |
| él / ella / usted | es | está |
| nosotros | somos | estamos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | son | están |
In Spain you will also hear sois and estáis for vosotros. Which set you drill depends on where you are headed, and it is worth picking one and sticking with it rather than half learning both.
The adjectives that change meaning
This is the part that repays the most attention, because the same adjective can mean two different things depending on which verb it follows. The pattern is consistent: with ser you are naming a quality, with estar you are reporting a condition.
| Adjective | with ser | with estar |
|---|---|---|
| aburrido | boring, as a quality | bored, as a feeling |
| listo | clever | ready |
| rico | rich (wealthy) | tasty |
| verde | green | unripe, or inexperienced |
| malo | bad | ill, in some countries (estar enfermo works everywhere) |
No quiero cenar con Felipe; es muy aburrido (I do not want to have dinner with Felipe; he is very boring) is about the kind of company Felipe is. Quiero dejar de jugar a las cartas; estoy aburrida (I want to stop playing cards; I am bored) says nothing about the cards: it says how you feel right now. Get these five into your head and you will avoid the most public mistakes in the language.
Where things are, and where things happen
Location looks like a clean rule and then produces the one exception everybody meets.
- El banco está cerca. The bank is nearby. A thing sits somewhere, so estar.
- La fiesta es en mi casa. The party is at my house. An event takes place somewhere, so ser.
The bank is a building, with a position. The party is not an object at all: it is something happening, and Spanish treats “is” there as “takes place”. Concerts, weddings, classes and meetings all behave the same way.
Why permanent versus temporary fails
The permanent rule survives because it works often enough to feel true. Here is where it breaks.
Lima está en Perú. Lima is in Peru. A city never moves, and it still takes estar, because where a person or thing is always takes estar.
El pájaro está muerto. The bird is dead. Nothing is more permanent, and Spanish still uses estar, because it is reporting a state rather than naming what someone is.
Son las dos y media. It is half past two. Nothing is more temporary, and Spanish uses ser, because the sentence is naming what the time is.
Three sentences, all of which the permanent rule gets backwards. Ask what job the sentence is doing instead, and all three come out right the first time.
How nemiria teaches this
Ser vs Estar is a pair in nemiria's Word Pairs topic, at all three levels. Learn sets out each rule with short examples, like the ones on this page. Test asks you to choose or type the right word, and Apply puts the pair in real sentences: you name the rule, spot the mistake, then write the sentence in Spanish. Both verbs also have their full tables in the verb topic, every form with tap-to-hear audio.
How to practise the choice
Drill the two verbs together. They compete for the same slot in a sentence, so learning them in separate weeks teaches you two sets of forms and none of the choice.
Say the job out loud before the sentence. “Naming” or “state”, then speak. It feels slow for a fortnight and then stops being needed.
Collect the adjective pairs as you meet them. Five is enough to start. Every time one surprises you, write both versions down with the English, because the surprise is what makes it stick.
Let the location exception be a separate small rule. Things use estar, events use ser. It is one line, and it covers every party, class and concert you will ever mention.
Read next
To practise this in the app, nemiria’s Word Pairs topic has Ser vs Estar at all three levels, and the Foundation level is free. Get it on the App Store.