Ser or Estar with casado/divorciado?

Question

Is it correct to use the verb "ser" or "estar" with the adjectives "casado/a" or divorciado/a"? eg, is the correct sentence: "Soy casado," or is it, "Estoy casado"?

Fixed your title. - Gekkosan, Aug 7, 2010

Answer 1

Here is a great article about just that -

'Soy Casada' or 'Estoy Casada'?

Both are correct, but the article goes into a bit deeper explanation.

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• My Spanish lessons did give a little bit different explanation saying this- When you say someone ES soltero, you are describing that person. When you say ESTÁ soltero you are saying what his status is.

Using "estar" is more neutral, and using "ser" seems more to be used as a political identity.

But the bottom line is this- If you see your marital status as a part of your identity, you use ser.

Answer 2

The issue and possible confusion is the same that all English speakers have with Ser y Estar. If you understand Ser y Estar, you understand how it applies in this and every other case. There's nothing special about the marital state.

Hopefully the link provided will help clarify the doubts.

Answer 3

I think the answer is that they're both correct! With adjectives of marital status estar and ser are more or less interchangeable, though I think estar is more common.

Answer 4

Normally the estar form is used as it is considered as a status, which can change suddenly and was not inherent as a charateristic in the individual in question.

But if you use the term "casado" or "divorciado" as an adjective you can use soy. For example: "Soy un hombre casado" where the soy is used with the inherent characteristic of being male.

Answer 5

The difference can be approximated in English by saying/asking "Are you a married person (ser) or are you a divorcé/eé (ser)?" as opposed to "Are you married (estar) or divorced (estar)?"

"a married person" is not commonly used, however, we quite happily use "bachelor" to mean "an (as yet) unmarried person".

Answer 6

Are the "conditions" of marriage and divorce considered temporary or permanent characteristics?

Both. I think Shadon's explanation is good. - Gekkosan, Aug 7, 2010

Temporary. Nobody is marrier/divorced from birth to death (permanently) - samdie, Aug 7, 2010

Doesn't matter. You can still ser casado or estar casado, For that matter, very, very few things in life are as permanet as all that. - Gekkosan, Aug 7, 2010

Answer 7

Ser and estar aren't correct for both casado and divorciado.

For casado, you would use estar.

For divorciado, you would use estar.

These are just rules that have to be memorized. You can't think of it in terms of the English language.

Did you mean to write - jjemerin, Nov 24, 2010

Did you mean to write "estar" for both? Your comment is confusing. - jjemerin, Nov 24, 2010