Verbs: Estar Flashcards
Estar (differentiate from ‘Ser’ as well)
(ay-STAR)- How or where something is; to be (as in pertaining to a location).
• As opposed to “ser” which has to do with what or who someone actually is.
• Ser is what or who something is.
• Estar describes how somebody is doing
• Think of estar as something you are doing (an action), not as something you are –a state of being (ser).
ESTAR
WHERE or HOW you are, WHAT you are DOING.
Estoy
I am (relating to location), also I am doing (because estar relates to how you are).
• 1st person present tense
• “Estoy aquí “ → “I am here”
• “Estoy muy bien” → “I am ok”
• “I am being a man” → “Estoy siendo un hombre”
*Joel is carrying a toy star so that he seems like he fits in with the store.
• Tar asks Joel why he is carrying a star, he says that it is just a toy, but it sounds like he says estoy.
Está
(aye-STAH) - He is, she is, or it is (doing).
• “Esta bien” → “It is ok (in the general sense)”
*Lizard tries to look like a star (esta).
Estás
(aye-sTAS) - You are
*Tar is tossing around stars close to customers, and Joel tries to warn her not to do this. So he says “you are estas[ing] (tossing) stars around near customers, and you shouldn’t.”
Están
They are
• “Are they near here?” → “Estan por aquí “
*The pandas are standing on the lizards tail. Joel tries to tell the lizard this, and says “the pandas are estan (standing) on your tail.”
Estamos
(es-TOM-os) - We are
*Tar is looking around for paper cutout stars that she cannot find. She asks Joel and his friends, “Are you standing on my pictures of stars? Are you stomping on them?”
• They look down and see that they are stomping on them.
• Joel says “we are estamos [es-TOM-os] (stomping) on your stars.”
Estuve (tense?)
I was (relates to a specific length of time, and deals with location or how you're doing). • 1st person preterite (past) tense
Estuve ayudándole al chofer a cambiar una llanta.
-I was helping the driver change a tire.
Es el hombre enfrente del cual estuve sentado.
-That is the man I was sitting in front of.
Estuve en la feria internacional.
-I was at the international fair.
El año pasado estuve de vacaciones en Punta Cana.
-The last year I was on holidays in Punta Cana.
*Joel has the stew (stu) all over his face and eyes (estuve).
Estuvo (tense?)
He was, she was, or it was.
• 3rd person preterite tense
*Lizard has the stew (stu) on his foot (estuvo).
Estabas
(aye-STAHB-as) - You were (in a certain place).
• 2nd person imperfect past tense
• 2nd person conjugations have an ‘s’ at the end.
*At the counter, they can’t see Tar because she is behind the counter.
• She pops up holding a sharp star wand behind her back.
• Joel immediately asks/accuses her, “Why were you hiding back there? Were you wanting to jump out and estabas (stab us)?”
Estaba (5)
He was, she was, it was, or I was
• 1st or 3rd person imperfect tense
Also 2nd person formal (usted)
Estábamos
We were, all of us
-1st person plural imperfect past tense
*We were safe from the stabbing, because we had the most stabbing [estábamos] power.
Estaban
They were
• 3rd person plural imperfect past tense
• aye-STAB-ahn
• Generally, if the conjugation end with an -n, it is the 3rd person plural (the pandas, i.e. ‘they’)
*The pandas were banned [estaban] from holding wands.
Estaré
(estar-RAY) - I will
• 1st person future tense
*Joel bought a wand and sees that it can shoot rays [estaré] of light, so he will go home and practice with it.
Estará
(estar-RAH) - He will be, she will be, or it will be.
• 3rd person future tense
• Similar to ‘será’
*The lizard just says “rahhh” when he sees it because he hates bright lights.
Esté (4)
I be, he be, she be, or it be
• 1st and 3rd person subjunctive tense (sense of hoping)
*Joel and the pandas see something interesting in Tar’s backyard, and they don’t want the noisy lizard interrupting them, so they hope the lizard stays [esté] somewhere else.
