'Soy Casada' or 'Estoy Casada'?Adjectives of Marital Status Can Take Either 'Ser' or 'Estar'

Question

Question: Which is correct — soy casada or estoy casada? I've seen both ser

and estar used with casada.

Answer The quick answer is that they're both correct! With adjectives of marital status — ones other than casado (married) include soltero (single), divorciado (divorced) and viudo (widowed), along with their feminine equivalents —* estar and *ser are more or less interchangeable.

Although the differences between ser and estar are usually distinct, that just doesn't seem to be so with the adjectives of marital status, where you'll often hear the two verbs used with little difference in meaning. In some areas, however, one or the other may be preferred, and estar probably has an edge in everyday speech, at least with casado.

Even so, use of estar can suggest (but doesn't always) there has been a change in marital status. Thus, while you might ask a new acquaintance "¿es usted casado?" you might ask a friend you haven't seen for a while "¿estás casado?" as a way of asking, "Have you become married since I saw you last?" or "Are you still married?"

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The same is true with a very few adjectives, such as gordo ("fat") and delgado ("thin"), that describe personal characteristics. Both "es gordo" and "está gordo" can be used to say "he is fat," for example. The latter often suggests that there has been a change, while the former may suggest merely a description of the way a person is. So the choice of verb can suggest an attitude — estar may suggest a state of being at the moment, while ser may suggest an inherent characteristic. In fact, that is the safest way to make your verb choice, and estar must be used where indeed there has been a change. But in everyday descriptions, the distinction of meaning isn't always a sharply clear one.

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Thanks Ray! - rac1, Oct 21, 2013

Answer 1

We talked about this on my recent course in Spain and the profesora asked me my marital status: I answered '' Soy casada'' . The profesora deemed this to be correct given that I have been married 35 years and have no immediate plans to change things. She said of her own mother, as another example:'' Es viuda''. The husband, my profesora's father, had died many years ago and her mother considered herself to now be a widow, for good.

However, young people, recently married will nowadays answer : ''Estoy casada'' . This is because with soaring divorce rates and many marrieages lasting a bare 18 months, people now don't consider this as necessarily a defining state, not one that will last.

If you're on your own you may just say '' estoy soltero/a'', indicating you will hopefully change this status, but if you are 72 and without a partner you would probably say '' Soy soltero/a''.

So, yes, you can use either, but the meaning will be a bit different...

That is fantastic Annie, you have made this exercise come to life with reality , it has made it all the more understandable , thank you so much mate. - ray76, Oct 21, 2013

De nada. Somos amigos. - annierats, Oct 21, 2013

Gracias por esta explicación!!!!! Muy bien!!!!! - chavofelix, Oct 22, 2013

Answer 2

I would say it is similar with the adjectives "gordo" and "flaco".

You may consider to be thin or fat as a permanent trait, or as a state that can be changed.

Soy alto, delgado, moreno (permanent traits)

¡Estoy gorda! (a condition that could be changed).

(Please correct my English, thanks!)

Or even moreno with a bottle of bleach, and as we age we tend to shrink , I am not sure how one would treat those changes .Thanks mate your English is perfect. - ray76, Oct 21, 2013