Estamos a martes.

Question

Hola,

Well, I went to the grammar section to read more about Para vs Por, but managed to go down the rabbit hole and ended up reading about other prepositions, including 'a'. That's not bad, as we wound up using it with objects late in the class I just finished, and more practice is better.

I ran across this in the portion about time express time (at, is)

Cenamos a las seis. (We eat dinner at six o'clock.)
**Estamos a martes.** (It is Tuesday.)

Could someone please explain it a bit more to me.

I'd have no doubt erred, and said "es martes"

So, estar because it's not a permanent thing (which day of the week it is) ?

But plural because...??

And first person because...???

Thanks for any insight anyone could offer. Always helps to get a feel for the way things are, instead of just blindly accepting it (even though I know that often must be done too)

Answer 1

Estamos a martes. = That estamos is referring at "us", "we" are currently living on a tuesday. Don't wreck your brain to totally understand why, just accept it and add it to your dictionary.

• Hoy es martes. (It is Tuesday) = It is talking about "martes" and it is one day, so it is singular.
• It is just a different way to say it. Like , It is 10:45, or it is 15 minutes until 11:00
• So, the question and its answer is
• ¿A qué día estamos hoy? = ¡Estamos a martes! = (What day are we living on today?)
• ¿Qué día es hoy? = ¡Martes! or "Hoy es martes" = (What day is today?)

Answer 2

Dates and the hour work with the verb "ser". For instance, today "es miércoles", because that particular combination of numbers in the calendar won't repeat again. It's its permanent condition (to be Wednesday, May 16th).

People, on the other hand, pass "through" time. Dates and the hour are a termporary condition for us. Right now, "estamos a miércoles" (we are on wednesday) and tomorrow "estaremos a jueves" (we'll be on Thursday)

Gracias comunacho! a+a+a+ (software would not let me type capital a's :-) - 0095ca4c, May 16, 2012

Muchas gracias. Exactly what I was looking for. Dates using SER I knew, but was confused by this day situation. Your explanation of passing through days really helps me look at it as Estar. Thanks again! - rogspax, May 16, 2012

Answer 3

I don't know if this will help, but the Spanish word estar comes from a Latin word meaning to stand. Ser is the basic meaning of identity or essence like the = in math.

Somehow this helps me in my use of ser and estar.

People whose native language is Spanish learn this without reflection on the meaning. Grammar helps learners of a language, but memory is the most essential tool. So I think farallon7's advice is sound.

Answer 4

To ad to Comunacho's explanation, "es miércoles" is just a shortened way of saying "Hoy es Miércoles."

yes, thanks. - comunacho, May 16, 2012

Answer 5

If you use estar a, then you will always use estamos a (day of the week). It is like saying ... Today is, tomorrow will be...

Answer 6

OK, upon further reflection, would we always use Estamos? Or rather, would one ever use another form of estar, to talk about ones self on a given day, or an individual or a group of others, thus making estoy or está or estan valid? Or is it idiomatic where we would always speak in terms of We, and thus employ Estamos? I swear I´ll eventually get this. Thanks for the help and patience in the meantime.

Hoy es ... es ... estamos a ..... All 3 are correct. We always use "estamos" and no other person. Idiomatic? I don´t know - 005faa61, May 16, 2012

Thanks much! - rogspax, May 16, 2012

Answer 7

I think this is how it works- correct me if I'm wrong-

First person because YOU are speaking

Estamos- the plural gets rid of 'es'