"To Be" Verbs

Quick Answer

Serand estarare the most frequently used equivalents of to be in Spanish. However, under certain conditions, haber, hacer, tener, quedar, costar, salir, resultar, and hallarsecan also mean to be in English.

Ser

Ser is used to talk about permanent or lasting attributes. If this general rule is too vague for you, remember the acronym DOCTOR, which stands for Descriptions, Occupations, Characteristics, Time, Origin, and Relationships.

Let's take a look at some examples!

examples
Los globos son rojos. The balloons are red.
Mi abuelo es zapatero. My grandfather is a cobbler.

Estar

Estar is used to indicate temporary states and locations. If that general rule doesn’t suffice, there are two acronyms that you can think of: PLACE and LoCo. PLACE stands for Position, Location, Action, Condition, and Emotion. LoCo stands for Locations and Conditions.

Let's put some of these uses into context!

examples
Los niños están soplando burbujas. The kids are blowing bubbles.
Mi oficina está a la derecha del ascensor. My office is to the right of the elevator.

Click here to learn more about ser and estar.

Quedar and Hallarse

In addition to estar, the verbs quedar and hallarse can be used to express location.

For example:

examples
La biblioteca se halla a tres cuadras y media de aquí. The library is three and a half blocks from here.
El café queda a poco más de un kilómetro de mi casa. The coffee shop is a little more than a kilometer away from my house.

Haber

Haber translates as to be when expressing the existence of something.

For example:

examples
Hay muchos restaurantes en mi barrio. There are many restaurants in my neighborhood.
Había ratones y otros bichos en el ático. There were mice and other critters in the attic.

Click here to learn more about how to use the auxiliary verb haber!

Tener

The verb tener is used in set expressions, with equivalents in English typically using to be.

For example:

examples
¿Tienes hambre? Are you hungry?
No tengas miedo. Mi perro nunca ha mordido a nadie. Don't be afraid. My dog has never bitten anyone.

Click here to learn all the tener expressions!

Hacer

To be translates as hacer in many weather expressions in Spanish.

For example:

examples
Ponte un abrigo. Hace frío hoy. Put on a coat. It's cold today.
Hace mucho sol. ¿Tienes protector solar? It's really sunny. Do you have sunblock?

Click here to learn more about using hacer in weather expressions.

Costar and Salir

To be can be translated as costar or salir when talking about the cost of something.

Check out these examples!

examples
El envío cuesta ocho euros. Shipping is eight euros.
Nuestro viaje salió caro, pero valió la pena. Our trip was expensive, but it was worth it.

Resultar

Resultar is a useful verb that can be used as an equivalent of the English to be. As you can probably gather, this verb focuses on a result.

Let's take a closer look!

examples
El alpinista resultó gravemente herido en la avalancha. The mountaineer was seriously injured in the avalanche.
La película resultó más entretenida de lo que esperaba. The movie was more entertaining than I expected.