A few questions regarding de, ser and estar

Question

Which way is correct?

"It's not easy to see" A) No es facil ver B) No es facil de ver

Estar and ser for temporary and permanent conditions: A) Normalmente no soy cansado, pero ahora estoy cansado B) Normalmente no estoy cansado, pero ahora estoy cansado

Using ser to express something general, does it change to estar when it becomes temporary? A) Normalmente no es facil de ver, pero ahora está facil de ver B) Normalmente no es facil de ver, pero ahora es facil de ver

Thanks Bjorn

Answer 1

Regarding the A) No es facil ver B) No es facil de ver question I'm afraid I'm not a grammarian but I'll have a go at explaining.

If I'm not mistaken I'd say that basically both can work, just under different circumstances.

'facíl/difícil de + infinitive' means easy/difficult to 'do something'

Es facíl de leer. It (subject) is easy to read. (talking about something specific that you're trying to read)

But when what follows facíl/difícil is the subject of the sentence then you can't use 'de' before it.

Es facíl leer. Reading is easy.

For this example the infinitive is functioning as a noun/subject so the 'de' can't be used.

This follows for negative sentences too 'no es facíl' it's not easy etc.

That's my attempt but if anyone knows better or can see any errors in my explanation please feel free to let me know as I'm still learning too

Makes sense to me. (Este libro) es fácil de leer = a specific circumstance, de refers to the book, Es fácil leer = it is easy to read in general. This is what you mean, right? - BjornM, Nov 26, 2012

BTW, translation software is not very helpful when trying to understand grammar, Google, Babelfish and the three used on this web site usually get different translations. - BjornM, Nov 26, 2012

yes, that's what I meant :) well done, and I feel your pain, trying to understand the grammar lol - but keep up the hard work and you'll get there :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 26, 2012

Answer 2

A) Normalmente no soy cansado, pero ahora estoy cansado B) Normalmente no estoy cansado, pero ahora estoy cansado

Soy it's what you are, estoy is how you are, always. So: Normalmente no estoy cansado, pero ahora estoy cansado.

just to clarify - ser is for characteristics and estar is for states so if you're in a state of being tired then estar is the way to express that :) - Kiwi-Girl, Nov 26, 2012

Answer 3

Hi

and welcome to the forum. In order to get our help, you also have to post your own attempt. Once we see what your doubts are about and hence we're sure that you don't want us to solve your homework, we respond gladly and as soon as possible. =)

First example: I can't any difference, it seems to be about preference of the speaker. - BjornM, Nov 26, 2012

Second example: "cansado" would be an adjective that typically signals a temporary condition, so the use of estar is motivated, but in this example we talk about it as a fairly permanent condition (normalmente). So I would pick ser over estar. - BjornM, Nov 26, 2012

Third example: depends on what grammar rule has precedence; it is an impersonal [removed]=use ser) but it is also a temporary condition (=use estar). - BjornM, Nov 26, 2012

Somehow the system removed one of the words above. It should be "expression". - BjornM, Nov 26, 2012