Ser or estar — that is the question

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:

• QUALIFICATION: SER — PERMANENT // ESTAR — TEMPORARY

• LOCATION: EVENTS — SER // THINGS — 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!

How to boost your learning experience –– tips for beginners in Spanish

Let no one fool you: your first steps in Spanish will be slow. But rest assured there are things you can do to speed the process up. Assuming that you are already studying with a good tutor and that you have a bit of extra time to throw in a couple of extra activities, here are a five tips that will improve your learning curve. 

1) Be in the language. This might sound like Zen. And it might be a bit Zen. You have to “be in the language”, spending time in it without any other goal. In other words, you have to spend a bit of time letting the language change you in imperceptible ways. Listen to the radio Spanish (even if you don’t get a single word!). Watch films in Spanish –– yes, with subtitles to begin with. Change your Xbox settings to Spanish. Things like these. The process of learning a language is not always entirely conscious. Even if you aren’t paying attention sounds, words, intonations, etc, will in this way imprint into your unconscious. 

2) Cherish every chance to practice Spanish. You might feel slightly embarrassed at the beginning and jumping into conversations with natives or advanced speakers might not come naturally. You would be surprised how open Spanish speakers generally are when you make an effort to speak to them in Spanish.

3) Immerse yourself in Hispanic culture. Hang out in places where Spanish speakers hang out. Go to pubs where they show La Liga or Latin American football. If you don’t like football look for relevant events on Time Out and drop by –– there are hundreds of these every weekend in London and any other major city. Just by listening to other people around you speak in Spanish you will be improving. 

4) Book a trip to Spain or Latin America. On your own. In this way you will be forced to communicate with the locals. Few things are better boosters than a good old culture shock. English is widely spoken in Spain and South America –– just insist that you want to speak in Spanish and everyone will be happy to help you.

5) Have fun. Learning Spanish, for whatever the reason you do it, should be fun. Spaniards and Latin Americans are renowned for their easy going approach to life. Try to get into this mood and enjoy the ride wherever it takes you. 

How to choose a good language tutor

There is a popular misconception: anyone can teach his or her native language. This couldn’t be further from the truth: teaching a language demands mastering a very specific set of skills, just as with any activity we wish to carry out in a proper way.

How has this misconception come to be? It would be hard to blame it on a single factor, but it is perhaps possible to suggest that the large amount of natives of any language offering their services –– for ridiculously low fees –– contribute a lot to it. The impression a prospective student gets after a simple web search is that language tuition is a sector saturated with relatively cheap teachers with very few specific skills. 

Nevertheless, a language tutor is a language professional. And like any other professional a good language tutor charges professional fees for a professionally delivered service. You wouldn’t pay a ridiculously low fee to a solicitor, a consultant, or an accountant –– a low fee would actually make you suspicious. Why would you pay a ridiculously low fee to learn a language? Choosing an unprofessional tutor might put you off learning a new language altogether. This is a story we hear our clients repeat over and over. 

A good language tutor is someone fully prepared to teach his or her language, from a methodological and grammatical point of view. There are many relevant courses that prepare natives to teach their language to foreigners and these qualifications are generally a good way of spotting people taking language tutoring with the professionalism it demands. It is also quite common for successful language tutors to have strong academic backgrounds or even to have had successful careers in other sectors. It is not only money that moves good tutors to teach but their love for their native language and teaching. 

There are also matters of personality for you to consider when choosing your tutor: you might get along with this or that other type of person; you might prefer someone younger or older; you might want someone with a business/art/law/etc background; you might prefer this or that gender. These are all things that are important for you to figure out before you go Gumtree-happy and call the first number that pops up on your screen. 

Take the time to figure out what kind of person you would like to have as a teacher and search for someone that fits the profile –– you will hopefully spend a long time with this person learning a new language. And don’t be afraid to ask for qualifications or references: any professional tutor will be happy to provide you with a long list of both. 

Whether you go privately or through an agency always choose a professional. You might pay more for your course but you won’t regret it. The new world that comes with a new language is one of the best things that money can buy.