2.07 Grammar 	

2.07 Selecciones – ¿Ser o Estar?
In Spanish, there are two verbs that are equivalent to the English words “to be.” If you want to say “I am”, you can either say “soy” or “estoy.” How does the speaker of a different language know which word to choose? Which will be appropriate? Making the wrong choice can completely change the meaning of your sentence. Knowing how to choose will make sure that what you are saying is really what you intend to say. In this section, we will discuss the differences between the two verbs and how you can make the correct choices.
Let’s review the forms of each of the two verbs that mean “to be.”

Ser		Estar		
Yo soy 	Nosotros somos	Yo estoy	Nosotros estamos	
Tú eres	Vosotros sois	Tú estás 	Vosotros estáis	
Él, (ella, usted) es 	Ellos,(ellas, ustedes) son	Él, (ella, usted) está 	Ellos,(ellas, ustedes) están	

Look at the following examples and see if you can formulate a rule that would apply to the use of ser. 
Leonardo es italiano. El Sr. Gonzáles es colombiano. Yo soy de Guatemala.
You should have figured out that when you talk about nationality or place of origin you would use a form of the verb ser. Now let’s look at another example.

El Sr. Martínez es profesor. Lourdes Roselio es dentista.	

El café está frío. 	

So you can see from the example above that the verb estar is used to describe a state of being or condition that is changeable. 

Marcos está bien pero Marta está enferma. Yo estoy triste.

Estar is used when you are describing how someone feels. (health or condition) Estar is also used to show where a person or thing is located at the present time.	

Tú estás en la escuela.	Robertito está en la clase de inglés.	
El libro está en la mesa. 	Madrid está en España.	

You can also use the verb estar as an auxiliary verb in the progressive tenses. (With the –ing form of the verb.) We will discuss the progressive tenses in a later module, but here are some examples.		
Nosotros estamos hablando con el profesor. 	David está mirando la televisión.	

The first cat is pretty. It has the physical quality of being pretty. You would use the verb ser because you are telling what it is like. The second cat is happy. You use the verb estar because you are talking about how it feels. You are describing a changeable state or condition of the cat. 
The chart below summarizes the uses of ser and estar that we have discussed so far.	

Ser	estar	
Date, day
Telling time
Essential quality or permanent characteristic
Occupation
Origin or nationality	State or condition at the present time
Health or feelings
Location or position
Progressive tense	

Now go on to the practice activities for this section. See if you can make the correct choice of ser or estar when you want to use the verb “to be.”