¿**Está** hecho de metal? ¿**Es** de metal?

Question

In Heidi's What / Who / Where game (like our 20 questions game) yesterday I asked the question:

¿Es hecho de metal?

My reason for this was that being made of metal is a characteristic, and I was 99% sure that ¿Es de metal? would be a valid alternative. I never thought for a second the following would be correct:

¿Está hecho de metal?

But it is. I'm guessing this is because using the verb "hacer" describes an action rather than a characteristic in Spanish, which is a little confusing as this particular usage of "made" in English focuses on the characteristic.

If anyone would like to comment or elaborate it may be helpful to myself and others. Cheers

Nah. There are thousands of articles about this, and it just can't be explained. You just have to learn it. Ser vs Estar will always trip a non-native Spanish speaker sooner or later. - Gekkosan, Aug 24, 2017

Cheers Gekko. The two usages "something of something" vs "something made of something" are indistinguishable in English, which was what tripped me here :) - jellonz, Aug 24, 2017

I know it. That's why ser vs. estar es difficult. Spanish speakers encounter the same problem with on vs. in, some instances of "of" vs. "off", and a number of other items where we don't make a distinction. - Gekkosan, Aug 24, 2017

My friends in Puerto Rico just can't seem to get those two right. On vs in. They are both bilingual and speak just like a native English speaker, but those 2 words always trip them up. - rac1, Aug 24, 2017

It's understandable as we have some odd uses of them in English. On a bus. In a car. On / in a plane. In a house. On a farm. In a tree. On guard. In trouble. It's messy. - jellonz, Aug 24, 2017

Right. Just like ser - estar. You just have to learn them. - Gekkosan, Aug 25, 2017

Answer 1

"Ser" is used to indentify, so it must be followed by a name (the name that identifies something), an adjetive (to identify the features of something/someone), or something equivalent, like an infinitive (instead of a noun) or an adjectival phrase.

"Es [de metal]" identifies the material of something with an adjectival phrase, which is practically equivalent to "Es metálico/a".

"Estar + adjective/past participle" indicates the result of a complete action, so "Está hecho de metal" means that someone chose metal, and the end result is the object you see. This sentence would not be used for a naturally ocurring object that happens to be metallic.

"Fue hecho de metal" is not wrong, but it probably only fits a conversation where the metal being used in the manufacture of an item is being discussed, and even in this case, "Se hizo de metal" sounds more natural.

el gran ausente, :) - 006595c6, Aug 25, 2017

:) - ian-hill, Aug 25, 2017

Excellent, gracias Lazarus. - jellonz, Aug 25, 2017

Thanks again! - Echoline, Aug 25, 2017

Wow. Professor lazarus. lol - Sassette, Aug 26, 2017

he actually IS a teacher sas. - 006595c6, Aug 26, 2017

Answer 2

Fue de metal?

No, we would not say this, Ken.

but we would say: Era de metal.

Fue sounds very odd.

Thanks Heidi. Of course you're right. I was being careless again. :( - DilKen, Aug 24, 2017

With descriptions, the imperfect is better. "Era." - Daniela2041, Aug 24, 2017

Answer 3

¿Está hecho de metal?

But it is. I'm guessing this is because using the verb "hacer" describes an action rather than a characteristic in Spanish, which is a little confusing as this particular usage of "made" in English focuses on the characteristic.

Está hecho de metal?

Focusing on the condition / state of the thing...estar... Is it made of metal?

Using ser passive:

Fue hecho de metal?

Was is made of metal? (focusing on the past action of someone making it.)

Estaba hecho de metal.

Was it made of metal. (focusing on the state / condition of the item in the past)

Fue Era de metal?

Was it metal? (again focusing on what it was made of, now there is no action verb)

I'm still learning. If there are any errors in the above analysis, please point them out to me so I can continue to learn.

:) - 006595c6, Aug 24, 2017

Cheers Ken. - jellonz, Aug 24, 2017

Answer 4

There is no problem with "Mi bicicleta es de aluminio."

However I still say "Mi bicicleta está hecha/construída/fabricada de aluminio." I use "está" because of the past participle that follows.

When speaking of the past, I would use "fue" hecha de aluminio" because of the passive.

If I were talking about my bicycle that got totally destroyed (I jumped off in time ) In describing it I would say "Estaba hecha de aluminio" Using "estaba" because I'm describing it's former state.

Gracias Dani. - jellonz, Aug 26, 2017