Is anyone familiar with Spanish sentence structure?

Question

I am taking a college course, and am trying to find the difference between ser and estar.

Here's a couple of example, we have to give the correspondent form of the verb ser and estar for:

Pedro

Los estudiantes

Nosotros

great answers so far thanks!

Thanks to everybody who answered, I used ALL of your information. Emilie,ezIndylan, iTutor, everyone, I appreciate it!

Answer 1

It's not as easy as saying estar is used for temporary conditions and ser for permanent ones.

For example, you would say "Estoy casado" meaning "I am married"
or "Estoy muerto" meaning "I am dead". While I suppose the first is debatable, I'd say that death is a pretty permanent state.

It's pretty hard to explain the difference without context. It's kind of a thing that you have to figure out as you're listening to Spanish.. and you'll get better at discerning when one should be used as opposed to another the more experience you get.

Good luck! If you post some more details about what you're trying to say, I'm sure someone can be of more help.

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OK... well, since they're not in a sentence, I assume you just need to conjugate them.

Pedro es
Pedro está

Los estudiantes son
Los estudiantes están

Nosotros somos
Nosotros estamos

Answer 2

Ser and Estar are both verbs i.e to be.
El niño es listo. The child is smart.
El niño está listo. The child is ready
When a noun follows the verb, use ser
To tell where something is from, use ser
To tell where something is located right now, use estar

Answer 3

yay for college spanish....


ser is permanent conditions (is tall, is blonde, etc)
estar is temporary (sick, etc)

more detailed, go to www.studyspanish.com

this is a LIFESAVER of a site. click grammar (on the left)
and then scroll down, there will be a part on ser and estar

Answer 4

Ser vs. Estar. I have this little jingle that may help.
YOu sing it to the tune of the Mexican hat dance:
Soy, eres, es;
Somos, sois, son;
Soy, eres, es;
Somos, sois, son;
Use ser to say who you are; (YO soy Paco)
as a person or what you look like; (Soy alto.)
Use ser to say what you own (Es mi libro.), what you do (Soy profesora.), where you're from (Soy de VA.), to tell time (Son las nueve.).

For estar: Estoy, estás, está;
Estamos, estáis, están;
Estoy, estás, está;
Estamos, estáis, están.
You use it for location (Estoy en casa.)and temporary conditions (Estoy cansada.),
You use it for the weather (Está nublado.) and when talking about your health (Estoy bien.).
You use it to say what it sounds like, you use it to say what it seems like, you use it for emotions, and words in -ndo. I hope this helps

Answer 5

"Ser" is what you are like person, and "Estar" is the place where you are.
i Hope it help to you.... i'm better with spanish.... from Venezuela....

Answer 6

I know that you use one for a temporary, fleeting condition and one for a permanent or semi-permanent condition. I honestly cannot remember which is which...

Answer 7

ser estar
From Latin ESSE: essence, identity, existence From Latin STARE: stand, stay, state
SUBJECT + ser + Ø
Expressing pure existence
u Pienso, luego soy [i.e., existo]
u Dijo Dios: "Sea la luz", y fue la luz SUBJECT + estar + Ø
Implies being somewhere (here, there, at home, in the world)
u ¿Está Isabel? [i.e., ¿está aquí, está en casa?]
u Dile que no estoy
SUBJECT + ser + NOUN/PRONOUN
Saying who someone is or what something is
u Carmen es profesora
u Sevilla es [parece] una ciudad preciosa
u ¿Quién es ése? SUBJECT + estar + NOUN/PRONOUN
Not possible
You will never say *Carmen está profesora. If you want to say that she is currently working as a teacher, then it will be Carmen está de profesora (de profesora is an adverbial phrase)
SUBJECT + ser + ADVERB
Only to say where or when an event takes place
u La corrida es [toma lugar] a las 5 de la tarde
u La reunión será [se celebrará] aquí SUBJECT + estar + ADVERB
The essential use of estar: saying where something or someone is located, or a situation or state in which a person finds him/herself
u San José está [está situado] en Costa Rica
u Pepe está [se encuentra] en un apuro
u Estoy [me siento] bien, gracias
u Voy a estar [quedarme] tres días
SUBJECT + ser + ADJECTIVE
Classifying, defining, saying what kind of thing or person the subject is; like the use of ser with a NOUN (basically, es triste = es una persona triste)
u El chico es muy bueno [i.e., es un buen chico]
u Esta cerveza es muy buena [i.e., conozco la marca y sé que es de buena calidad]
u Es fácil aprender el español
u El vino de Málaga es dulce [i.e., es un vino dulce]
u Es vieja: tiene cien años
u La estatua es de oro SUBJECT + estar + ADJECTIVE
Describing the state the subject is in after change has taken place, commenting on an accidental quality not considered inherent in the subject; like the use of estar with an ADVERB, in that you are essentially saying that the quality you are attributing to the subject is a place in which he/she/it has ended up (está triste = se encuentra en un estado de tristeza, se ha entristecido)
u Está mala: tiene fiebre [i.e., se encuentra mal]
u Está muy buena la cerveza, ¿no? [i.e., la estoy bebiendo y me parece bien]
u Hoy están [se han vuelto] muy difíciles los niños
u Este café está demasiado dulce [i.e., se ha puesto demasiado azúcar]
u Aunque tiene 100 años, está todavía muy joven [i.e., tiene el aspecto muy joven, se comporta de una manera juvenil]
SUBJECT + ser + PAST PARTICIPLE
The true passive construction: refers to the action being carried out
u El poema fue escrito por García Lorca [i.e., GL escribió el poema]
u Fueron [quedaron] heridos en un accidente
u Seré [me veré] obligado a firmar [i.e., alguien me obligará a firmar]
u Ella es bien conocida en su propio país
(NB some past participles can be used as ordinary adjectives: es aburrido = it's boring) SUBJECT + estar + PAST PARTICIPLE
Not passive; refers to the result of the action having been carried out (so like estar + ADJECTIVE above)
u El poema está escrito en catalán
u Estaba [se encontraba] herido y sangraba
u Pepe está [anda] enamorado de la monja
u Ella está muerta


So there are two areas of usage that are unproblematic:
"to be" + NOUN must be ser;
"to be in a place" must be estar (unless it is an event taking place there).
The only situations in which you have to make the choice are:
"to be" + ADJECTIVE (ser inherent vs. estar accidental);
"to be" + PAST PARTICIPLE (ser passive action vs. estar result of action).