Verbs ser and estar in Spanish: main uses and their differences Have you started studying Spanish and are you having difficulties with the uses of ser and estar? The differences between ser and estar are always difficult for foreigners to understand. Imagine: it is your first Spanish class. You learn the verb
Have you started studying Spanish and have difficulties with the uses of be and be?
The differences between be and be For foreigners they are always difficult to understand.
Imagine: it is your first Spanish class. You learn the verb be, its conjugation and its uses. So far so good, right? Surely you have a similar verb in your language.
You arrive at your second class, and you discover the verb be. You probably think: "Why does Spanish have two identical verbs? If in my language they are both translated by the same verb. What is the use of be and be in Spanish? Is there really that much difference between ser and estar? What a mess!”
Does it sound familiar to you?
Don't worry, it's totally normal. At Hispania, Spanish school, we know that differentiate the verbs be and be This is usually a problem for many Spanish students.
In fact, all Spanish teachers and students know that the great dilemma posed by Shakespeare it wasn't “To be or not to be”.
The real question is: “BE OR BE”?
Therefore, today we want to help you be a verb professional be and be in spanish! 💪🏻
Read the article carefully because at the end there is exercises with be and be in Spanish and I want you to make them great. 😉
When we begin our journey in learning Spanish we realize something important: many languages have a single verb that performs the functions.
But the Spanish has two! 😉
This is one of the main characteristics of Spanish, unlike many other languages, such as English.
Therefore, it is often difficult to translate directly from other languages.
So, we have to think in spanish. 😉
Don't worry, we know this can be a little complicated.
Therefore, we bring you the keys to master all uses of the verb be and be in Spanish.
Keep reading!
¿be or be? When to use each verb? What is the main difference between be and be?
In general, the verb be It is used to talk about characteristics that define at people or at things.
That is, we talk about characteristics that they usually be permanent.
And this is not all!
Let's start with the basics: What is the verb form be?
The verbs be and be in its conjugation in present indicative are irregular verbs. Let's start with the verb be.
Don't be afraid, it's a very short verb, I'm sure it will be very easy for you to remember. 😊
Here you have a small table with the verb conjugation be in present indicative. You'll see how easy!
Do you want to know the imperative of the verb be or in other times in the past? Like the imperfect tense of the verb be. If so, check out our article on verbs haber, ser and estar, since we present to you the verb conjugationbe and be at all times.
In this article we are only going to look at the verbs be and be in present and its main uses.
Do you want to know the uses of be and be?
In this article I am going to tell you. Let's go first with the uses of the verb be in spanish. Now that you have the form down, here comes the fun part! 😊
We use the verb be to express the nationality of a person or the origin of one thing That is, where do they come from.
For example, we can say:
Miguel is from Mexico, he is Mexican.
Thus, you can express Miguel's nationality in two different ways: with the preposition of, accompanied of the country or city, or with the nationality adjective.
The potato omelette is Spanish.
In this way, we are saying what is the origin of the famous potato omelette, where this dish was created.
What do you prefer, potato omelette with onion or without onion? 😉
To talk about professions do we use be or be? If we want to express what is our profession, our work, we use the verb be, for example:
I I am a teacher of Spanish in Hispania.
In this case, we only need the verb be, plus the profession.
Nothing else is necessary! Easy, right?
How many times have we been asked as children: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
What did you respond at that moment? I always said: “I want to be a dancer”. 😊
Look, here we leave you some professions so you can choose which is your ideal profession.
We will also use be for identify and define at people and at things. Thus, we will say:
This is Maria, my best friend.
The object we use to write is a pen
How important this use! TRUE?
And speaking of defining people… The verb be It has another very related use.
We use this verb to describe people. That is, to provide information about your character, your personality and to describe the appearance physics. In this way, we can say that Mary…
She is a tall blonde girl. In addition, she is very nice, she is funny and she is very intelligent.
Our physique usually changes a lot over the years, but there are points of our character that don't change much... right?
Have you thought about what you were like as a child and what you are like now? Write it on a piece of paper and practice your Spanish a little with our beloved verb be. Do you dare? 😉
Lastly, the verb be can express dates. That is, the time concrete in which an action occurs. For example:
My birthday is April 13th.
Tomorrow is Saturday.
Look closely! When we talk about the date, we will use the verb be in the third person singular. That is, the same way we use for people he, she and you.
Simple, don't you think?
Now that you are a super expert in the verb be, let's go for the second part of this very peculiar couple: the verb be. 😉
Now you are going to understand well the difference between be and be.
The verb be is usually used to talk about non-permanent information, like states and location of people and things.
Do we see in detail when we should use this verb?
First we will have to be able to identify it when we find it, right?
Let's see the present form of this irregular verb!
In the case of be, it is only irregular first person singular, that is, the shape of the i.
Much easier than the verb to be! Excellent!
Here you have the verb conjugation be in present indicative.
If you want to know the verb be in the past, such as the past perfect simple of the verb be, I put again the article of the verbs haber, ser and estar.
In that article you will find all the tenses of the verb be and be in Spanish.
Now that you can recognize this wonderful verb when you speak and read in Spanish, you have the first step, congratulations! 🤩
We move on to the most interesting thing: When do we use be?
with him verb be we can express the location or location of the people and the things, that is, the placewhere they are located. For example:
– Where is Hispania, Spanish school?
-The school is in Valencia, is near the Nursery Garden.
This verb is going to be great for us to talk about directions. So, start packing your bags and you can now ask directions around Spain. 😉
The verb be also talks about the people's moods, of his emotions and their feelings. They are temporary states that change, they are not lasting and all people experience them.
We are talking about sensations that may be temporary or may have a specific cause, that is, they do not define the person.
Thus, we say:
Laura is a very happy girl, but today she is sad because her dog is lost.
The characteristic cheerful It is stable in Laura, it defines her as a person.
However, today he is in a situation that makes him have a certain feeling: sadness.
Again, we use the verb be to describe characteristics that do not define people or things, so they can be temporary. They refer to non-lasting physical changes. It is widely used with diseases, for example:
I went out to party on Saturday, but I didn't bring a jacket, so now I have a cold.
Although it can also be used with permanent physical changes:
My phone fell into the pool and now it's broken.
One of the uses most useful of this verb It is what helps us to talk about actions in process.
This is, actions not completed at the time spoken.
In this case, it is used be + the verb in gerund.
Do you know what the gerund is? It is a non-personal form of the verb.
And it is formed in a very simple way.
The regular gerund of verbs that end in -AR is formed by adding the ending -ANDO to the verbal root, that is, the part that remains when eliminating -AR.
For example: quantityar > quantityI walk.
Likewise, with verbs ending in -ER and in -GO, is added -GOING to the root.
Thus, we have: babyer > babygoing, livego > livegoing.
With these ingredients we have the perfect recipe for process actions, like when we say:
“Today I'm learning a lot of Spanish!” 😉
Let's practice a little. Look at this image and think about what the people in it are doing. You can write the actions on paper or do it orally, what do you prefer?
How many actions in process have you found? And you, what are you doing at this very moment?
Here we present a very special use that may confuse you a little with another use that we have already seen with the verb be.
Don't worry, we'll explain it to you! It's very easy. 😉
so much be like be can be used to talk about professions. The difference is what that profession means to us.
with him verb be We present our usual profession. Do you remember?
I I am Spanish teacher.
and beappears to talk about a temporary profession, that is, a profession that we are going to maintain only for a certain time.
That job, just for the summer or to earn a little extra money..., It is not our usual profession or one for which we have really prepared.
Furthermore, with the verb be the structure It's also different.
We use the verb be + the preposition of, and the profession:
BE + OF + PROFESSION
For example:
I am a teacher, but this summer I need to save a lot of money, so I am a waitress in a bar in the afternoons.
Surprise! The dates You can also express yourself with our protagonists today, the verb be or be.
Of course, we will use different structures for this.
with the verb be we simply said:
ADVERTISEMENT OF TIME + IS + DAY OF THE WEEK OR MONTH
Today is friday.
We can also use the verb be to indicate the time or date, although things change a little here.
In this case, we will use the verb always in the first person plural. That is, the way we use to we.
Furthermore, we must add the preposition to when we talk about day:
We are to Tuesday.
We are to May 25
And we add the preposition in with months, years and seasons of the year:
We are in July.
We are in 2022.
We are in summer.
ADVERB OF TIME + WE ARE + A + DAY OF THE WEEK OR MONTH
ADVERB OF TIME + WE ARE + IN + MONTH, YEAR OR SEASON OF THE YEAR
How interesting! TRUE?
So, if someone asks us the date, we can say that “today is July 8” and we can also answer “it is July 8.”
By the way, have you thought about what day it is today? 😉
Lastly, the verb be helps us express our ratings about things, with adverbs good or bad.
The Albufera of Valencia is very good to spend a day with friends.
Important! with the verb be we cannot use good or bad, we would use instead the adjectives good and bad
The Albufera of Valencia is very good option to spend a day with friends.
BE GOOD / BAD (DOES NOT EXIST IN SPANISH)
Surely after reading this article you already know many new things about two of the verbs most important in Spanish. Excellent! 🥳
And as a little gift, here we leave you an infographic with a summary of everything you have learned today.
The uses of the verb be and be They don't stay here. Did you know that in Spanish we have a lot of expressions with be and be? Or words that change meaning depending on how they are used? be or be?
If you want to continue learning about verbs be or be, and many more things, you can consult the courses of Spanish that we offer you in Hispania, Spanish school.
We will be happy to accompany you on your learning adventure! 😊
Now that you know a lot about verbs be and be and their differences, do you dare to practice a little everything you have learned?
We are going to work on the differences between be and be with exercises. Cheer up!
You can make it perfect!
In this activity you have phrases with be and be and you must write the correct form of the verb be or be in every sentence. Luck!
Did your exercise go well? Have you written the form of the verb s correctly?er or be in every sentence? Tell me in comments!
If you still have doubts about this article about the verbs be and be. Sign up for our spanish courses and you will solve all your doubts.
Article written by Ainhoa Sánchez for Hispania, Spanish school.
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