¿Ser o estar? What’s the difference? – To be in Spanish | Aprende español | Learn Spanish

Hola chicos,

You won’t feel frustrated anymore! I am bringing you here the difference of the uses of ser and estar – we all know how hard they can be.

Here you will find how to conjugate both verbs in the present, past and future. You will study the different contexts in which ser and estar are used, and you will see examples to have a clearer picture.

But this is not everything! You also have some practice at the end of the video to get you ready and make you feel confident using both versions of ‘to be’ in Spanish.

Was it helpful? Let me know in the comments. I am looking forward to reading you.

Enjoy and happy learning,

Beatriz x

[Music]
question that’s the actual question
William Shakespeare hello
everyone I’m bringing you a new video
with s or so we’re going to delve into
these two verbs that we know cause a lot
of trouble for um non-native speakers of
Spanish so when you’re learning Spanish
as a second language we know how
Troublesome they can be and especially
if your mother tongue is English we know
how hard this can be for us to produce
the language in Spanish When We’re
translating from English because we
don’t have this duality of verbs in
English we don’t have two verbs for the
same concept of to be so we know in
English to be is um said in two
different ways in Spanish s and estar
and the way that I always suggest that
we should study them is obviously when
we learn the paradigms we need to learn
them by heart in all of the different
tenses there’s no other way around it
but when when it comes to the uses of s
and estar we can’t think we can think of
the different ways in which we can find
them and that means if we actually learn
the uses of s an estar then we would
need to be proactive and we would need
to actively think of the use When We’re
translating from English into Spanish so
it would require a conscious um approach
it would require us to think consciously
When We’re translating from English into
Spanish so we can activate those uses
and say oh this case is a star and this
case is s the only thing is again that
we’ve got more irregularities because
sometimes they can actually be
interchanged and depending on the
context depending on the situation and
depending on the Nuance that the speaker
wants to provide then we could actually
use either so please bear with me I’m
going to go now through the uses officer
and the US off star we’re going to start
first um with the main and water use
that you can think of so you can use it
in the majority of the contexts but then
we’re going to see them more in detail
so s as I always say we use S for
descriptions okay so when you want to
describe something something that is
permanent that is going to be S so s
always permanent um and if you want to
describe something obviously that is
going to be an inherent quality of
yourself that cannot change therefore
that is going to remain like that
forever that’s going to be a permanent
quality so that will be with s however
on the flip side A Star is going to be a
star temporary because um we’re going to
use normally a star for things that will
change will imply change um or things
that are not going to be like that
forever that’s why location is going to
be one of the best cases because I’m not
going to be here forever you can travel
and even if you are in the same um City
you’re going to be going to different
places you’re not always going to remain
in that place that’s why we say that a
St is for temporary things okay because
you’re going to use for example location
I’m here right now but afterwards I’m
going to be in a different place okay so
let’s get started with s okay we’re
going to see the Paradigm of s in the
present the past and the future which is
irregular and then we’re going to see
the uses so said in the present tense as
we know is so s s so son in the past
tense in the pr tense it was it
is and then in the future I will
be so that’s in terms of structure
that’s the whole Paradigm in the present
past and future and now we’re going to
see the different uses because we’ve got
like very specific accuses that will
kind of be encapsulated within the
bigger and the broader concept of the
scription okay so the first type of s is
nationality and origin because that is
an inherent quality of myself that I
cannot change if I am from Spain if I am
from Cordova that is something that I
cannot alter that I cannot change in the
past so I would say I am from Cordova so
the Cordova I am Spanish my nationality
so espan so I’m using the verb s in
there when we’re talking about
relationships we’re also going to be
using S because we are going to refer to
someone that we acquire as for example
our family or maybe we want to say that
they’re our friends or maybe they are my
couple my spouse whatever so we’re going
to use S so if I introduce someone as my
brother I would say s Meo but if I want
to say he is my friend she is my friend
I would say es Amiga l
m so relationships will also be set
again because we are describing physical
qualities or physical um attributes or
physical description that will be as
well with s for example if I am short I
am short I cannot change that and then I
am going to say soy bajita for example
if I am brunette I’m going to say soy
morina now it is true that I can dye my
hair and I can say um esto morina or for
example if I am um originally blonde and
then I dye my hair and make it brunette
then I can use a St to imply that that
is a change for example so that’s the
Duality that I was talking about when
sometimes we can um use both depending
on what we want to imply in the context
so because I am brunette if I for
example Dy my hair in blonde I can say
Ria but that’s because I have just tied
my hair okay but I could still say soy
ruia in that case because I have DED my
hair and it could look like in the same
way that we can describe someone
physically we can also talk about our
personal characteristics features and in
heer and quality so if I am an honest
person then I am going to say soy
honesta because that is a quality that I
cannot change from my inner self okay
that is part of myself and I cannot
change it another use of set is
possession what’s yours is yours so for
example if my phone belongs to me and I
want to say this is my phone I would say
it’ss me
because it is mine and that implies
possession so s profession again talking
about description if I am a teacher that
is part of my job so I am going to say
soy professora so when you’re talking
about your job you would say s as well
it’s not only about your job but for
example um what you are doing in your
life if you’re a student you would also
say so
SOA so or you could also imply EST
because that’s a temporary part of your
life okay so it could be anything
another use of s is when you want to
identify something when you want to
describe what that is if you want to
refer to an object and you want to say
what thing it is then you’re going to
use that for example if I want to say
this is a bottle of water then I’m going
to
say okay because I am identifying this
object so sad because it is the inherent
quality of the bottle to be a bottle of
water date and time because those are
two concepts that even though they are
flowing and even though time is changing
all the time is a concept that we cannot
really modify so actually we’re going to
use the verb s in Spanish for it for
example if we want to ask the question
what time is it we’re going to say or S
if we want to say it is to we’re going
to
say remember that with time we always
use the plural form except for one so we
would say es laa okay if you want to say
tomorrow is Saturday we would say Manana
as sabado so when we’re talking about
days of the week or time we’ll use S
another use of set is natural color and
this is a bit tricky because sometimes
we can use with color either set or
estar depending on the context so if
we’re talking in abstract terms for
example the sky is blue um snow is white
or the grass is green and so in those
cases we would say as a as BL
however let’s say that there is a
drought and now the grass is not green
anymore and it’s turned for example
Brown we would say thes Maron because
that is
temporary that grass for example has
become a certain color it has become
Brown during the drought or when it is
not good weather and it is not green
anymore therefore we would use aad in
that context but when we want to refer
to the inherent quality of this of the
grass being green we would say ELP
as for example I can think of um other
adjectives that we’re going to see
afterwards um and when we want to say um
clean or dirty we’re going to say as
well for
example because they have turned that
way and it’s something temporary okay
okay let’s go with a star now so we have
seen sir something permanent and all of
those uses now we’re going with a start
again we’re going to go through the
Paradigm in the present in the past and
in the future I have to say that the
future for S and estar they’re totally
regular because we use the infinitive
and then we have the future endings but
just for you to know so present of EST
EST EST EST EST EST so you can see that
it is really regular however the first
person is the only one that is a little
bit different then we’ve got the prce
which
is and then the future simple future
would
be okay over and done with now uses of a
start so we’ve said before that location
is going to be the biggest one because
obviously I’m not going to be there
forever as I’ve mentioned as well
they’re all going to underline the
concept of temporar okay okay so they’re
not going to be permanent anymore
therefore location if I want to say I am
in school in the physical building I’m
going to say
esto I am at home so you are describing
where you are at that moment okay the
next use of estar is mood okay because
we’re not we cannot be feeling in a
certain way forever because moods and
feelings Flo to it so our feelings are
going to be changing during the whole
day because you can spend some minutes
feeling feeling really happy and then
you’re going to be sad and then you’re
going to be anxious and stressed so
you’re going to experience an Amal gam
of different feelings during the day
therefore we’re going to use a start for
example I am
anxious I am happy content I am
tired I am
sad you could also say to be in a good
or bad
humor so I would say I’m in a good humor
I’m in a bad
humor related to feelings physical
condition is going to change dayto day
as well because there’s going to be some
days when you’re feeling really
energetic but there’s going to be some
days when you’re feeling tired or you
can even feel sick so you’re going to
say I feel good I am I’m good I’m
feeling good we also use EST stad for
the result of an action to express the
result of an action that someone or
something has done before for example
let’s say now I am sitting here that
means that on the flip side I need to
stand up afterwards so I’m going to say
I am sat down however if I am standing
I’m there’s going to be a moment when
I’m going to sit down as well so I’m
going to say esto de so those two um
states are going to imply a result of an
action either to sit down or to stand up
so that’s going to be a temporary action
so
a natural color or condition this is
another um case of we’ve actually
mentioned it before when we were talking
about when we were talking
about for example if we talk about um
snow when it gets a little bit dirty we
can say instead of La as
BL for example I can also think think of
um when I go to the gym and I do some
conditioning sessions my face gets
really really red I don’t know if it
happens to you as well but my face is
not always red it gets red when I am and
doing the exercise and afterwards so
whereas my face would always be pale and
I would say that it’s kind of Pinky me
pel is Rosa or color carne I am going to
say after that
workout my face is mik esta so in that
case I am going to say EST Roa because
it’s something temporary I’m not going
to be readed forever thank God and the
last use of estad is one that I really
like because that shows how uh different
it can be from estar to S so for example
we all know from my videos that I love
coffee okay so you would agree with me
in the
sentence coffe is the drink of Gods and
got the S and in that sentence in that
statement we’re using said which is a
really really bold statement s La baby
theosis meaning that coffee is
magnificent and it is amazing okay
however and you’re going to agree with
me on this one even though you are not
really into coffee and coffee is not
excellent in all of the coffee shops
unfortunately so for example in that
case you’re going to say AAR you’re
going to use a star if you used to go
into a place and trying the coffee there
and you know that it is super super good
but one day it doesn’t taste as good you
would use esta for example I am going to
say meaning that at that moment it is
super super good but if I go to a coffee
shop where I’m really used to having
amazing coffee and that day is a little
bit off and I really like it I’m going
to
say meaning that today coffee is not not
as good as other times okay let’s say
for example um you love your mom’s um
pasta recipe and she she would make it
amazingly so you would
say however one day it’s not her day and
then um she doesn’t make pasta as good
as you’re used to for example you’re
going to say
laa because it is only in that case okay
no
so we can um we can go from the general
where we use S and we can go into the
particular and the specific and use a
star to imply that in that moment in
that occasion that is not as you would
have expected to okay guys so now it is
time to practice it doesn’t finish here
I’m going to give you some sentences in
English that I would like you to
translate in Spanish so I would say the
English I’ll wait for you you can pause
the video if you want to and then I’ll
say the Spanish okay are you ready
this is my
brother it is
5:00 I am a university
student I am at my parents
house I am
nervous the bottle is
blue is I am English
so I am kind
so you are
standing
EST this muffin is
delicious my hands are
clean well guys I hope you really
enjoyed this video as much as I enjoyed
filming it because it is amazing to
teach you the differences that we’ve got
in Spanish um with English and it is
really enlightening to see how depending
on the context because I I’m always
saying context context how depending on
it you can say something different and
it it is a disclaimer not every single
case is going to be either this or that
there’s always going to be different
nuances and it will always depend on
what the speaker want to wants to convey
in their speech okay so just for you to
bear in mind um as always make sure that
you like the video if you did like it
because it really supports my channel
and make sure that you subscribe so you
can um be in the loop of everything that
I am doing and you can learn Spanish as
always so I’ll see you in the next one
gracias chos adios