estén and están ?

Question

hello ladies and gentlemen

i'm a new spanish learner and i'm confused about estén and están in sentences.

Are they different?

tnx all of U

Welcome. Estén can also be used for the imperative but when you are new to Spanish there is so much to learn that you can leave the subjunctive for later. - Mardle, Sep 1, 2017

Answer 1

Están is they or ellos in the present indicative. (it could also be ustedes)

Estén is they or ellos in the present subjunctive. (it could also be ustedes)

Answer 2

Están is the present indicative for estar for they/ustedes(you all- formal/Latin America).

Estén is the present subjunctive for the same person.

Our section on the subjunctive:

https://www.spanishdict.com/guide/spanish-subjunctive

(Ellos) están aquí. They are here.

Quiero que (ellos) estén aquí. I want that they be here (more normal English- I want them to be here).

Answer 3

Hello Moe,

Welcome to our Spanishdict community forum

You asked:

hello ladies and gentlemen i'm a new spanish learner and i'm confused about estén and están in sentences. Are they different? tnx all of U

Yes, they are considerably different. The indicative mood, basically speaking is used to talk about statements of fact and general truths.

Examples of use:

Indicative: Las mujeres están caminando en el parque = The women are walking in the park.

The subjunctive mood is used to express doubt and uncertainty, express feelings using verbs of emotion and perception such as esperar = to hope, querer = to want, to love, sentir = to feel, and to comunicate that you want somebody else to do something for you! It is also used for impersonal statements.

Subjunctive:

1.¡Espero que tus hermanos estén muy bien! = I hope that your brothers are well!

2.Quiero que me compres un anillo de diamantes = I want you to buy me a diamond ring!

3.Doubt: Dudo que ellos lleguen a tiempo = I doubt that they will arrive on time!

4.Impersonal statement: ¡Es fantástico que él haya sacado muy buenas notas en el examen! = It is fantastic that he received very good grades in the exam!

As a beginner, you don't really need to concern yourself with the subjunctive mood at this stage.. . (It is more late intermediate material) just learn about the present indicative and simple past...

I hope this helps

Corrijan mi español si es necesario, por favor

Typo - should be women. - Mardle, Sep 1, 2017

Thank you, Mardle :) - FELIZ77, Sep 1, 2017

Answer 4

This link from the wordreference is similar to your question. estén/esten