Son or Están here? And why?
I wrote the following sentence in a test, where we need to describe a picture. The teacher circled the están and put son there.
La camiseta, los pantalónes y los zapatos de Pablo están blanco.
I want to ask, why son and how do I tell which to use?
Thanks alot! 
13 Answers
A good rule of thumb when a person is just starting to learn the difference between ser and estar is the following ditty, which can be sung to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star":
Twinkle, twinkle little estar, how you feel and where you are.
In your example you have clothing that is a certain color; obviously this does not tell how the clothing feels or where the clothing is, so you need to go with a form of ser.
As you advance in Spanish you will learn that there are other uses also, but this is a good start and this little ditty makes it easy to remember.
It's because this is their condition. It's not a passing or temporary state, they are white, period, it's the essence of their being.
Well, maybe that's overstating it, but it is a permanent condition, hence the use of ser.
where we need to describe a picture.
That is your answer. When you are describing attributes of something, you're going to use ser for the most part.
El cielo es azul - The sky is blue
El agua es mojado- Water is wet
Soy alto - I am tall
La casa es blanca - The house is white
Soy feliz - I am a happy person
En este momento.... none of the following are attributes, but are expressed as emotions
Estoy feliz - I am happy, but it is subject to change
Estás triste - you are sad, but in a moment you could be happy
Está aburrido - he/she is bored, but tomorrow things could be different.
Estamos felices - We are happy. We won the lottery or whatever. Tomorrow things could be different
Estoy = the way I feel. Estoy cansado, estoy enfermos, estoy enojado, etc. Soy = things that I am . Soy mestizo, soy alto, soy bajo, soy estadounidense, soy inteligente, etc.
This is a confusing verb from Eng-Spa and Spa-Engl. In English is just one, in Spanish is two. With experience you will get the hold of it and I'll become natural to use it properly.
Los zapatos son blancos. (a permanent condition).
Los zapatos están debajo de la cama (a temporary situation).
La camisa es blanca. (That is the color it is)
La camisa está sucia. (At the present moment, but it can be washed).
Los pantalones son blancos.(Today and tomorrow).
Los pantalones están planchados. (Today, who knows tomorrow).
Hi, mathslover (I love math, too! 
).
Just my 2 cents: when you faced with the decision of whether to use ser or estar, try to decide if what you are describing:
has a fixed attribute that won't change (blue is blue; a chair is a chair; 3 is 3; tall is tall; Mexican is Mexican... these things won't change, in general)
or
has different states (I try to relate estar to states - one moment your happy, next you're sad; he's outside, he's inside; it's raw, it's cooked).
My method may not be perfect, but it has worked for me. For more help (and clarity lol), check out the SD reference section (here's a link).
"Estoy feliz" I am happy "Soy feliz" I'm a happy person. I am contented.
"Estoy muerto." I'm dead (tired, exhausted, etc.) "Soy muerto" I am dead (a permanent state, only possible to say in the movies)
"Estoy borracho". I am drunk. "Soy borracho." I am a drunk (sot)
Thank you all so much, it sure helped! I guess I have to learn to think like a native. My mistake, it seemed, was trying to translate literally.
I find myself confused over whether it is 'tú eres' or 'tú estás' half the time I write anything, but you are right, it takes practice. And I love the advice given!
Son!!! Generally, just generally (there are some exceptions), ser is used for permant things and estar for temporary...
My casa es blanco. My house is white. --- You use ser, because your house isn't going to change colors magically by itself in the middle of the night.
La comida es caliente. My food is hot. --- You use estar because the food might grow cold after twenty minutes...
Exceptions Example:
El chico es bajo. The boy is short.
The poor, short guy might grow in a few months, so it's estar, right? Wrong! We use ser because its a permanent characteristic (most of the time.)
Oh, okay, your probably confused about the short guy... so let's go into the details: Ser is used for:
- describe characteristics (that don't change.. hair color, height, intelligence)
- Orgin (de)
- Nationality
- Job (when modified by un/una)
- Time
- Matierals (what something is made of)
- Dates
Estar is used for:
- Location (I am in the house. You estoy en casa.)
- Health/ Emotions (I am sad. Yo estoy cansado.)
- Mood
Ser or Estar is the same verb in English.--- Estar is used when it is attached to feelings or emotions. Soy is linked to the way you or things are. I.E. Soy, alto, bajo, blanco, meztizo, perezoso, etc. --- Estoy triste, cansado, enojado, enfermo, etc.
anything that describes is goingto be ser
Bienvenida al foro, welcome to the forum mathslover,
This site has many helpful resources and many questions like yours have been asked before and answered before. There is a search box and you can use it to find many helpful answers.
On the menu bar you will see a tab that reads more, unless you are using the site in Spanish it says más. If you click on that you will see a dropdown menu and find a whole wealth of very helpul articles. I have found a few articles you may find of interest.
Have fun.
They're like tense words. Estar is for things that are current, where the speaker is anticipating an end, like a gerund in English. Ser is for things that the speaker isn't anticipating a change to, live an infinitive in English.
You can translate the ester group to 'is... for a while' and the ser group to 'is...'.
