Estar o ser en 3D?

Question

Which verb of 'to be' would be used to say something is in 3D?

Answer 1

That one might be a close call and may be dependent on the particular circumstances but I think usually you would use ser with 3D. If a movie dvd is in 3D, that format would be a characteristic of the movie/dvd so ser would be appropriate. There could be, I suppose, a rare instance where 3D might be a current condition rather than a charactieristic and estar would be the appropriate verb.

I don't know linguistically, but in everyday language, we use both: "Esa película esta en 3D", "La nueva versión es en 3D". There might or might not be a rule, but we use them both =p - Hokuten, Nov 21, 2012

Answer 2

I'd avoid the problem I suspect by saying, for example, "este peli es presentado en 3D". Then I could congratulate myself for also avoiding the question whether or not the movie was "in 3d". I suspect that that is only an abbreviation of a truly grammatical statement such as (guess what) "presented in 3D".

Answer 3

Ser versus Estar: Part I --- 20 Practice sentences -- Fill in the blank and multiple choice