How to Use Ser and Estar

Question 1

estar (to be):

present tense

Answer 1

estoy estamos
estás estáis
está están

Question 2

used to describe temporary conditions

Answer 2

estar

Question 3

used to describe temporary locations

Answer 3

estar

Question 4

used to describe how it is now

Answer 4

estar

Question 5

ser (to be):

present tense

Answer 5

soy somos
eres sois
es son

Notice that there are no accent marks in the vosotros form.

Question 6

used to describe events

Answer 6

ser

Question 7

used to describe permanent conditions

Answer 7

ser

Question 8

used to describe permanent locations

Answer 8

ser

Question 9

used to describe how it is usually / long term

Answer 9

ser

Question 10

Use in present progressive and imperfect progressive conjugations:

Answer 10

estar

¡Yo te estoy hablando!
I’m talking to you!

Ella estaba llamándome.h
She was calling me.

Question 11

Use when talking about the time, days, and dates:

Answer 11

ser

Question 12

Use when talking about possession:

Answer 12

ser

Question 13

Use when talking about occupation

Answer 13

ser

Question 14

Use when talking about origin:

Answer 14

ser

Question 15

Use ser when talking about material used:

Answer 15

ser

Question 16

Use in passive voice constructions:

What this means is that the subject of the sentence did the action of the verb.

The door was closed by the wind.

Three houses are built every week.

Answer 16

ser

La puerta fue cerrada por el viento.

Tres casas son construidas cada semana.

Question 17

Use ser in impersonal expressions:

It’s important to study.

It’s hard to study with so much noise.

Answer 17

ser

Es importante estudiar.

Es difícil estudiar con tanto ruido