TO BE (SER) ?OR

TO BE (ESTAR)? THAT IS THE QUESTION.

A review of subject pronounsSubject/verb agreementThe present tense of the two verbs in Spanish that are not interchangeably used to express “being”

Subject (Personal) Pronouns

The infinitive verb forms (unconjugated) of the verb “to be” are “ser” and “estar.”

In order to use these verbs in a sentence, they must agree with a subject (must be conjugated).

Verb conjugation requires understanding subject (personal) pronouns.

Singular and Plural Subject Prounouns

Singular (one person)

Yo = I

Tú = You (friendly, informal)

Ud. (usted) = You (polite, formal)

Él = He Ella = She

Plural (2 or more people)

Nosotros/Nosotras = We (Anyone + I)

Vosotros/Vosotras = You all (friendly, informal)

Uds. (Ustedes)= You all (friendly and polite) Ellos = They (all males

or males and females) Ellas = They (all

females)

More about You plural (You all)

VOSOTROS USTEDES (UDS.)

The vosotros plural form is used only in parts of Spain. Latin Americans do not use this.

Tú + Tú = Vosotros

* Vosotras is only used to speak to all females.

In Latin America (and in my class) ustedes (Uds.) is used as the plural form of you in all circumstances. (polite and friendly)

Tú+ Tú= Uds. Tú + Ud.= Uds. Ud. + Ud.= Uds.

It

In Spanish, there is no subject pronoun stated for “It.”

The subject “It” is implied by using the verb form used for Ud./él/ella without a subject pronoun.

Ud. es interesante. You are interesting.Él es interesante. He is interesting.

Ella es interestante. She is interesting.Es interesante. It is interesting.

Estar

Yo estoy= I am Nosotros estamos = We

Tú estás = You are Vosotros estáis= You are

Ud. está = You are Uds. están = You are

Él está= He is Ellos están = They are Ella está = She is Ellas están = They

are

Ser

Yo soy = I am Nosotros somos = We are

Tú eres = You are Vosotros sois = You are

Ud. es = You are Uds. son = You are

Él es = He is Ellos son = They are Ella es = She is Ellas son = They

are

When to use “estar” and “ser”

ESTAR SER

Emotional feelings Physical feelings

(health) The location of people,

places, and things To form the present

progressive tense With adjectives, to

express the temporary state of someone or something

To identify something or someone

To state the time of day To state the day or date The state location of an event To state origin with “de” To state possession with “de” To link a subject to a predicate

nominative (renaming the subject) nationality profession religion

With adjectives, to state permanent characteristics