The Verb Estar & when to use it - Lesson 4

As mentioned, In English we know the forms of the verb “to be” as (I) “am” (You) “are”, etc
In Spanish, there are two verbs that can be translated as “to be.” These two verbs are ser and estar. This lesson will focus on Estar.

The following table shows the conjugations of the verb Estar in the present tense.

Yo (I) - estoy

Tú (familiar you) - estas

Usted., él, ella (polite you, he, she) - esta

Nosotros/as (we) - estamos

Vosotros/as (familiar you) - estais (* Only in Spain, Not in South America)

Uds, ellos, ellas (you, them) - estan

When do we use the verb Estar?

We can generalize and say that Estar is used to when we speak about a “condition” and Ser is used when we speak about an essential/permanent quality.

Here are some rules of thumbs:
1. Estar is used to experess geographic or physical locations
For example:
Donde Estas (Where are you?)
Estoy en el Costa Rica ahora (I’m in Costa Rica now)
Donde Esta Australia (Where is Australia)
* Note that if we speak about where an event is going to take place, we should use SER instead.
*

2. Estar is used when we went to express a state, condition or a result of an action.
Estoy cansado (I’m tried)
Como Esta la Carne? (How is the steak?)
Como Estas (How are you?)
Estoy Muy Bien (I’m very good)
Ellos estan tristes ahora (They are sad right now)

3. Estar is used with the progressive tenses (to indicate that it happens at this moment)
Que estas comiendo? (What are you eating?)
Estoy comiendo arroz (I’m eating rice)

4. Estar is used with some idiomatic expressions
Estar en camin (to be on the way)

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