Ser vs Estar and my "theory"

Question

Hi!

Could you tell me if I think right? The difference is the fact that we use ser when talking about some kind of features and estar when talking about some other features.

SER: -Date -Occupation -Characteristics -Time -Origin -Relation

ESTAR: -Position -Location -Action -Condition -Emotion

And there is nothing we have to thing about, right? I mean we don't have to 'meditate on' every single situation and it's context, just think about the feature we mentioned in our sentence.

Mi padre era polaco - origin Ayer estuve enfermo - condition Fue lider de mi equipo durante el corazon - characteristic

Am I right? Thanks

Hi Matty. Please add your language details to your profile. - rac1, Jul 23, 2016

Welcome to the forum , we want to help you so fill out your profile If you have a problem PM a mod Bienvenido al foro. Queremos ayudarle, entonces hay que llenar su perfil. Si hay un problema, envíe un mensaje personal (PM) - ray76, Jul 24, 2016

Answer 1

Although some people like to use "permanent" for ser and "temporary" for estar, this is a non-exact approximation for the concept that ser relates to a defining feature, a characteristic, something integral- and estar to a state or condition of something. Granted, states/conditions are often temporary, and defining features often permanent, but not always.

Él era niño, luego era adulto joven, pero ahora está muerto.

Which state has lasted longer.

Este coche está roto. Well I suppose if you are really good you can fix it.

Plátanos son amarillos. For a little while in their arc of existence. Entre cuando están verdes y están podridos, sí, están maduros y son amarillos.

El cielo es azul, por lo menos cuando no está gris o oscuro. I live in the Northwest, I am not sure blue is even the natural, defining color of the sky, but I will go with it.

I think if you just learn what defines something to a Spanish speaker (and to some extent that does have to be learned), and what is just the state it is in, you do fine- and if you can remember that something is still what it is when you move it (location), but the time it is is the time it is (time is defined as the time it is)- it works across the board. It even works for the event "exception" because a party at my house is by definition not a party at your house. Just my opinion, provided for what it is worth.

I have a theory about "está muerto" Los españoles cuando estaba en desarrollo la lengua eran muy muy católicos. Y en la doctrina de la iglesia, habrá una resurrección de los muertos. Así es que la muerte es una condición y no una característica. - Daniela2041, Jul 24, 2016

Answer 2

I see you're using DOCTOR for ser and PLACE for estar as memory devices. Yes this just about gets most of them. But you need to account for "E" in somewhere in your "ser" list for "events" Like El concierto es en el parque. La clase de geografía es en la sala 21 que está en el edificio B-3

Here's a link to an article I wrote on the subject.

Link to a simple outline on the use of ser and estar

Gracias - rac1, Jul 23, 2016

Answer 3

Fascinating Matty but note that your groupings of "features" follow the standard rule in that ser is used to relate fixed or permanent descriptors while estar is used for non-permanent descriptors. As for meditating, don't make my head hurt. The best solution is simply to use the language until you have learnt what uses which.