You might be aware that Spanish has two ways of expressing the verb to be: ser and estar. This is something that puzzles most beginners, and that many advanced students continue to find difficult as they progress with their studies. This difficulty is generally made worse by the fact that the use of these two verbs is generally simplified in this way:
Ser is permanent
Estar is temporary
While this is truth, it is only partially truth. How would this explain a sentence like “Mi casa está en Hackney” (My house is in Hackney)? The location of my house is permanent, so it can't be explained with the opposition between ser as permanent and estar as temporary.
A better way of thinking about these two verbs is thinking of two different functions that explain the vast majority of its uses: qualifying versus locating.
QUALIFYING
When we want to say how a thing or someone is we are qualifying. And here the opposition between permanent and temporary is true.
We use ser when we understand something to be intrinsically related to the thing or person we are qualifying. It is important to note that we aren’t talking permanent and temporary from a scientific point of view here, but about how Spanish speakers perceive these things to be. If I say “Soy Español” (I am Spanish) I understand that this is something that I can’t change. It’s not like it will go away. If I say “Soy delgado” (I am thin) it means that I am generally this way.
On the other hand, estar is used to talk about states. A state is something that can change. If I say “Estoy enfermo” (I am sick) I understand that I wasn’t always sick, and that I will very likely stop being sick at some point. The same with “Estoy cansado” (I am tired) — I will at some point stop being tired.
Sometimes I can use both verbs to qualify things or persons. What do you think is the difference between “Soy delgado” and “Estoy delgado”? In English you would need another word to make this difference clear. “Soy delgado” means I am thin always. That is just the way I am. Whereas “Estoy delgado” means I am thin now, because I have lost weight, for example.
This is the opposition between ser as permanent and estar as temporary. Let’s see what other things we can do with these two verbs.
LOCATING
Both verbs can be used to locate.
I can use ser to locate events. An event is something that happens in time and space. I can use ser to locate an event in time and space. I can, for example, say “La fiesta es en mi casa” (The party is in my house). Here I am locating an event (the party), in space (my house). I can also say “La fiesta es a las 9:00” (The party is at 9:00). Here I am locating an event (the party), in time (9:00).
When it comes to things or people, which can only be located in space, we use estar. For that reason I would say “Mi casa está en Hackney” (My house is in Hackney) or “Londres está en el Reino Unido” (London is in the UK).
See that these uses of ser and estar can’t be explained with permanent versus temporary?
TO SUM UP
These are the two functions that will help you get right 99% of the uses of ser and estar:
We hope this helps and if you need more help feel free to drop us an email or take some classes with us!
Happy learning!
