¿Es grande o Está grande?

Question

¿Cuál es correcto? ¡Que grande es tu perro! o ¡Que grande está tu perro!

Gracias RonB

Thank you all for your help. I believe the sentance I had a question with was talking about the size of the dog at a particular time. The sentance said ¡Qué grande está tu perro! Prefiero una raza más pequeña. - RonRB, Jun 15, 2015

Answer 1

Depende de la situación y qué quieres implicar.

Si es un perro de una raza canina grande, como un San Bernardo, es una característica fija del perro que sea grande, así ´ser´.

También si es un perro que es grande por su raza, por ejemplo un caniche de un metro y medio, también es característica fija del perro, así se usa ´ser .

.

Si acabas de secarle el cabello de un perro que tiene mucho pelo largo, es probable que haya doblado en tamaño, así dirías tú en ese condición ´estar´.

También si no has visto por mucho tiempo el perro, por ejemplo no desde que era un perrito, y ha crecido bastante desde luego, dirías también ´estar´.

(este último es algo común que dicen los abuelos siempre cuando ven a sus nietos)

Oh, y en el caso de ´¡Qué grande es(tá) tu perro!´, cuidado que ¡ese ´qué´ lleva acento! :) - Suzanne_Romijnders, Jun 15, 2015

:) - annierats, Jun 15, 2015

:) - FELIZ77, Jun 15, 2015

Suzanne, Great answer, but Ron says in his profile that he is a beginner in Spanish, so if this is accurate he may well struggle to understand your ansswer ! - FELIZ77, Jun 15, 2015

Es verdad, así dicen los abuelos. :) - jemamu, Jun 15, 2015

Thank you and you're right, I should've checked that and provided a translation. Oopsie. ^^; Next time I'll make sure to do that, but for now I think your answer is just as good. :) - Suzanne_Romijnders, Jun 16, 2015

Answer 2

if its a permanent characteristic then you say es. if its temporary as the example given by suzanne (when you dry the dog and its hair makes it appear temporarily larger) then you use estar.

Rather than permanent and temporary, I like to say inherent (ser) and state-of-being (estar). :) F.e. Pedro es virgen. / José está muerto. :) - Suzanne_Romijnders, Jun 16, 2015

Let's hope being a virgen won't be a permanent feature of Pedro and let's hope José isn't just temporarily dead (that would be scary o.o). - Suzanne_Romijnders, Jun 16, 2015

Answer 3

If you are talking about the size of the dog you are talking about a characteristic of the dog in which case you should use the verb, Ser p.ej: El perro es grande = The dog is big.

Ex: ¡Qué grande es tu perro! = What a big dog you have! (lit: How big is your dog)

If however, you are referring to a state or condition of a person or animal at a particular time you would use the verb: estar

I will further illustrate the difference using the word feliz

ex; Juan es feliz = Juan is happy /Juan is a happy person This refers to his nature and is a characteristic so the verb ser is used.

ex María está feliz = Maria is happy (ie: she is happy at the moment...she may not be happy later!)

This example refers to a condition or state and so estar is used!.

Additionally, the verb estar is used to describe a person's emotions since we can not be certain about the exact time when these feelings started and when they ended!

If for any reason the dog's state/condition has changed eg: He is standing up on his hind legs I think you could say ¡Qué grande está tu perro, ahora! = How big your dog is now!

I hope this helps

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

great answer :) - jemamu, Jun 15, 2015

Thank you, very much, Jemamu :) - FELIZ77, Jun 15, 2015