ser and estar
ser aburrido to be boring.......... ......................estar aburrido to be bored
ser bueno to be good........... ..........................estar bueno to be tasty/attractive
ser cansado to be a tiring person................... estar cansado to be tired
ser grave to be serious ..................................estar grave to be seriously ill
ser listo to be clever .......................................estar listo to be ready
I am really having trouble with this. Please bear with me, I am not as quick to learn as others here may be. Could someone please use one of these words in a couple of sentences so I can get the hang of it? I learn so many words and verbs, but when I make a sentence, it is wrong. It is quite frustrating. Building sentences is a nightmare to me.
5 Answers
lazarus1907 said:
ser is used to classify or identify.
estar is used for everything else, especially states related to a point in time and space.
Or as Aristotle used to say essence/accident
Thank you. It was easier than I thought. I sometimes have a tendency to make things more difficult than need be. Thanks so much. And I find my new lesson for the week is all about just what I asked last night.
lazarus1907 said:
Those translations are a bad idea. Let me try my way, with a single rule for all ser/estar problematic cases:ser is used to classify or identify.estar is used for everything else, especially states related to a point in time and space.Nouns are words used to identify, so they always go with SER. Forget about "Estoy profesor" or "Estoy Wendy", because you are classifying or identifying yourself, and they are both nouns.ser abrurrido - classify something/someone as boring thing/person.estar aburrido - state of being boring at a given time, possible in a placeser cansado - classify something/someone as as boring thing/person.estar cansado - state of being tired at a given time, possible in a placeser listo - classify someone as as smart person.ser listo - you don't find yourself smart at times or at places, but "listo" also means "ready", and this is clearly a state at a given timeThis method explains almost every single use of ser & estar, and you don't have to memorize absurd lists. You are not changing the meaning, but picking that one that matches the use of the verbs SER and ESTAR... using logic!In Spanish the meaning of these words don't change (as in "aburrido" or "cansado"), although sometimes you have to pick one meaning or another depending on the verb used (like "listo"). English, on the other hand, because it doesn't have verbs to differentiate this, you need to have pairs of words to make this distinction, like "bored/boring", "tired/tiring".Ignore and forget the temporal / permanent rule.
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Those translations are a bad idea. Let me try my way, with a single rule for all ser/estar problematic cases:
ser is used to classify or identify.
estar is used for everything else, especially states related to a point in time and space.
Nouns are words used to identify, so they always go with SER. Forget about "Estoy profesor" or "Estoy Wendy", because you are classifying or identifying yourself, and they are both nouns.
ser abrurrido - classify something/someone as boring thing/person.
estar aburrido - state of being boring at a given time, possible in a place
ser cansado - classify something/someone as as boring thing/person.
estar cansado - state of being tired at a given time, possible in a place
ser listo - classify someone as as smart person.
ser listo - you don't find yourself smart at times or at places, but "listo" also means "ready", and this is clearly a state at a given time
This method explains almost every single use of ser & estar, and you don't have to memorize absurd lists. You are not changing the meaning, but picking that one that matches the use of the verbs SER and ESTAR... using logic!
In Spanish the meaning of these words don't change (as in "aburrido" or "cansado"), although sometimes you have to pick one meaning or another depending on the verb used (like "listo"). English, on the other hand, because it doesn't have verbs to differentiate this, you need to have pairs of words to make this distinction, like "bored/boring", "tired/tiring".
Ignore and forget the temporal / permanent rule.
I explained this before:
the ending ed in English is equivalent to the verb "estar" in Spanish
Yo estoy aburrido = I am bored
Está cansado = he is tired
The ending ing is equivalent to ser in Spanish
Es aburrido= He is boring
soy interesante= I am interesting
Doesn't work with all adjectives, but the difference is quite clear with others.
You're looking for sentences that contrast the meanings of what it is to be boring rather than bored?
....what it is to be tiring rather than tired? ...what it is to be clever rather than ready. I don't know if writing a sentence in Spanish is going to help you. I think you need to have the nuances of the adjectivies explained.
All we have here is a verb+adjective. The nuance of the adjective will change depending on whether the verb is ser or estar. soy aburrido... I am boring (I'm bombastic or verbose and bore people when I talk) estar aburrido...I am bored (I'm lethargic, or burnt out). The meaning of the adjective aburrido changed depending on whether I used it with the verb ser or estar.
again, the adjective: grave
soy grave (I am a serious, somber, reserved, person) estoy grave (I am seriously ill, but I may shortly recover fully, or not)
The only point being made is that you can take the same adjective and depending on whether you use ser or estar you can make the adjective reflect a more permanant state or quality (ser) or you can give the adjective a nuance that is more transitory or less intrinsic (estar).
Once you grasp that concept you can work on the converse: when ser or estar is given with the adjective you can translate the adjective knowing to use a word that suggests permanence or one that suggests a more temporary characteristic.
