Es and Esta for making descriptions

Question

Es is the second person present form of Ser

está is the second person present form of Estar

According to this page, the main difference between Ser and Estar is that, although they both mean to be, estar describes things that have temporary states. It also describes locations.

In my Spanish text book it has the following examples:

(Describing a job) es bastante aburrido = it’s quite boring

(Describing the taste of wine during a tasting session) Hmm, no está muy bueno. = Hmm, it’s not very good.

Why does one use es and the other está?

For example, you could say that a job is boring and it will always be boring, so you use ‘es’. But then if you tasted wine and it wasn’t very good, then it’s always going to taste ‘not good’. It’s not going to suddenly start tasting good one day (especially because, at a tasting session, you only try the wine once, you don’t normally go back and taste it again). So why is está used to describe the wine?

Answer 1

Hi.

Es and está are third person, not second.

Please do not get hung up on the temporary/permanent distinction. See here.

I don't much like your textbook's example, Hmm, no está muy bueno. If the wine is just plain bad, I would use ser. If it has gone bad, I might use estar.

@jtaniel I think it means bad, as it doesn't taste very nice. So should it be "Hmm, no ser muy bueno" Thanks! - big_smile, Feb 28, 2017

Answer 2

Hi Big_Smile, I'll try to help you. In Spanish, we use "ESTAR" to describe foods and drinks we are or were having at a specific moment.(Present or Past)

Examples:

1. In a restaurant, Your date asks you: "¿Cómo está el pescado? you answer: Está muy bueno, está delicioso"

2. Ayer, la paella estaba muy rica, pero la limonada no estaba tan buena.

On the other hand, we used "SER" to describe how foods and drinks are all the time. (not at a specific moment but always).

Examples:

La comida en este restaurante es my rica (always) El café en Starbuck's es muy bueno. (always)

Don't ask why? It's like this and we use it like this.

If something is always good it is by definition good, it is intrinsically good. How the food is now is its condition, its state of being. Ser= defining characteristics, estar=the condition or state of something. - bosquederoble, Mar 1, 2017

@DoctorSpanish So, in my example, the speaker is using esta, because she's tasting wine, so that's more appropriate, because it's a specific moment. Where as in the job example I posted, the job is always boring (over many days). Is that correct? Thanks! - big_smile, Mar 1, 2017

Yes, that's correct! - DoctorSpanish, Mar 3, 2017