SER and ESTAR

Question 1

situations where you ONLY use SER

Answer 1

• before a name, pronoun, infinitive or number
  eg. Esto es una mesa, Querer es poder
• SER + de = origin, material, posession, belonging
  eg. este reloj es de oro, este coche es de mi padre

Question 2

situations where you ONLY use ESTAR

Answer 2

• ESTAR + gerund
  eg. está comiendo
• ESTAR + de = forms expressions such as
  eg. estar de vacaciones ; estar de viaje ; estar de compras ; estar de moda

Question 3

Space

Answer 3

SER: spatial situation/temporal space of event
eg. la fiesta será en la discoteca
ESTAR: indicates every other spatial situation
eg. estamos en la calle
Moscú está en Rusia

Question 4

Impersonal

Answer 4

SER: always used when subject is impersonal
eg. es bonito que haga sol , fumar no es bueno
ESTAR: only use with ‘bien’, ‘mal’ and synonyms.
eg. está bien viajar de vez en cuando

Question 5

Date and Time

Answer 5

SER: indicates date and hour. use 3rd p sing/pl
eg. Hoy es jueves, Son las 14.30
ESTAR: only indicates the date. use 1st p. pl + a/en
eg. Estamos a jueves, estamos en octubre

Question 6

Prices

Answer 6

SER: indicates the price of things
eg. ?Cuánto es? Son 43 euros. Estos zapatos son muy caros
ESTAR (a): indicates a price change
eg. ?a cuánto están los plátanos? = how much are the bananas (now the price has changed)?

Question 7

Jobs

Answer 7

SER: indicates the job with which the person identifies with
eg. Luis es agricultor
ESTAR de: indicates the work that the subject is doing but doesnt identify with
eg. Pepe es arquitecto, pero está de camarero

Question 8

Participants

Answer 8

SER: indicates an action in a passive voice
ESTAR: indicates the result of a previous action
eg. las puertas fueron abiertas a las 7h - the doors were opened at 7
las puertas estaban abiertas a las 7h - when it turned 7, the doors opened

Question 9

Adjectives

Answer 9

SER: essence, characteristics, definition
eg. Pedro es inteligente
ESTAR: state, circumstance,
eg. Pedro está cansado

Question 10

Uses of HABER

Answer 10

• express existence of objects, people, places in a space
• for phrases without a subject
• with indeterminate nouns/objects (-un/a/os/as)
• localisation + hay + people
• common nouns without an article
• numbers
• with alguien/algo/alguno/nadie/nada/todo/lo que/mucho/poco/ninguno

Question 11

Use of TENER

Answer 11

• indicates something that someone possesses - objects, people, places
• used with objects, people, places.