Ser and Estar: Choosing the Right Verb for To Be
Ser and estar both mean 'to be' in Spanish, but ser is used for identity, permanent characteristics, profession, origin, material and telling the time, while estar is used for location, temporary states and feelings, and the progressive tense (estar + gerund).
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Use ser for permanent or defining characteristics: physical description, personality, nationality, profession, religion and material (Es alto, Es profesora, Es de madera).
- Use ser to say where an event takes place, not where a person or thing is: La fiesta es en mi casa (the party is/takes place at my house), even though estar is used for a person's location.
- Use ser for telling the time, dates and days of the week: Son las tres, Hoy es lunes, Es el 5 de mayo.
- Use ser with de to show origin, possession or material: Soy de Londres, Es de mi hermana, La mesa es de madera.
- Use estar for the location of people, places and things: Madrid está en España, Mis padres están en el trabajo.
- Use estar for temporary states, conditions and feelings that can change: Estoy cansado, Está enfadada, El café está frío.
- Use estar + gerund (-ando/-iendo) to form the progressive tense for an action happening right now: Estoy estudiando, Están comiendo.
- Learn the pairs of adjectives whose meaning changes with the verb: ser aburrido (to be boring) against estar aburrido (to be bored); ser listo (to be clever) against estar listo (to be ready); ser malo (to be bad/evil) against estar malo (to be ill/off, of food); ser rico (to be rich) against estar rico (to taste delicious).
Worked example
Choose ser or estar and give the correct form: Mi amiga Elena ___ muy inteligente y ___ estudiando medicina en la universidad. Normalmente ___ muy tranquila, pero hoy ___ un poco nerviosa porque tiene un examen. La universidad ___ bastante lejos de su casa.
- 'muy inteligente' describes a permanent personality trait, so it needs ser: es muy inteligente.
- 'estudiando' is a gerund forming the progressive tense, which always uses estar: está estudiando medicina.
- 'muy tranquila' as a general, habitual personality description needs ser, since normalmente signals a permanent trait: normalmente es muy tranquila.
- 'un poco nerviosa hoy' is a temporary feeling limited to today, so it needs estar: hoy está un poco nerviosa.
- 'bastante lejos de su casa' describes location and distance, which always uses estar: la universidad está bastante lejos de su casa.
- Full answer: Mi amiga Elena es muy inteligente y está estudiando medicina en la universidad. Normalmente es muy tranquila, pero hoy está un poco nerviosa porque tiene un examen. La universidad está bastante lejos de su casa.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1Complete with ser or estar: Mis padres ___ de Colombia.Show answer
Answer: Son (origin uses ser).
Q2Complete: El restaurante ___ cerca del parque.Show answer
Answer: Está (location uses estar).
Q3Translate: 'The soup is cold' (it has gone cold).Show answer
Answer: La sopa está fría.
Q4Explain the difference between 'es aburrido' and 'está aburrido'.Show answer
Answer: Es aburrido means the person or thing is boring, a permanent characteristic; está aburrido means the person is bored right now, a temporary feeling.
Q5Complete: Hoy ___ el 3 de octubre.Show answer
Answer: Es (dates use ser).
Q6Complete: Mi hermano ___ enfermo esta semana.Show answer
Answer: Está (a temporary state).
Q7Translate: 'They are watching television.'Show answer
Answer: Están viendo la televisión.
Q8Complete: Esta silla ___ de plástico.Show answer
Answer: Es (material uses ser).
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Spanish exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Translate into Spanish: 1) My sister is a doctor and she is very hard-working. 2) The hospital is quite far from our house. 3) Today she is really tired because she is working a lot. 4) The meeting is at the hospital at nine o'clock.
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Lee el texto y corrige los cinco errores con ser/estar (identifica el error y escribe la forma correcta). Texto: Mi instituto está muy grande y estoy en el centro de la ciudad. Los profesores son muy simpáticos, pero hoy soy un poco cansada porque tuve tres exámenes. Mi mejor amiga es enferma esta semana, así que no está en clase. La reunión de padres está el jueves a las seis.
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See real GCSE Spanish past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the ser and estar: choosing the right verb for to be worksheet pack - 6 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
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