Es mayor vs. Está mayor?

Question

Hola todos! Entiendo la diferencia entre ser and estar pero...

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre es mayor y está mayor?

Por ejemplo:

Mis sobrinos son mayores.

Mis sobrinos están mayores.

Welcome to SpanishDict. The dictionary on this site gives the complete conjugations for both verbs. Lesson 1.11 on this site discusses when to ser vs. estar. - rac1, Sep 20, 2016

Please add you language proficiency and the language you speak to your profile. - rac1, Sep 20, 2016

Answer 1

I can´t think of an instance when mayor being used as an adjective would be collocated with estar. As an adjective it describes the nature something / someone, so this will always be with ser.

Answer 2

Mayor has two meanings, one being simply "older" and one is an adjective and one is a noun..

Mi hermano es mayor que yo. My brother is older than I am.

Now the noun.

Carlos es mayor de edad. Carlos is a grown-up/ an adult.

Esta película es para mayores de edad. This movie is for adults/grown-ups.

As Julián Chivi said, this word is never used with estar.

:) - ian-hill, Sep 20, 2016

Answer 3

This depends on the adjective.

1. We can use ser + adjective when the characteristic is permanent.
   
   • Mis hermanos son lindos. (= it's permanent and does not change over time.)
2. We can use estar + adjective when the characteristic is temporary.
   • Mis hermanos están lindos. (= they're getting ready for a party today.)

The choice for both ser and estar will exclusively depend on considering something permanent or temporary.

Some adjectives are used with ser and others with estar. It's just a matter of vocabulary.