Questions tagged [cópulas]
Verbos copulativos: ser, estar y parecer. Words equivalent to English "to be", including "ser", "estar", and all their conjugated forms.
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Uso de "estar" en un contexto donde normalmente se usaria "ser"
Yo soy brasileño y desde Febrero estoy viviendo en Argentina.
No sé si esta cuestión tiene que ver solamente con el español argentino/rioplatense o es una cuestión general.
El tema es lo siguiente:
La ...
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Fue vs. Era en situaciones específicas (trabajos)
Tengo una pregunta sobre pretérito indefinido y pretérito de indicativo y hago prácticas con el verbo ser.
Entiendo que indefinido es para acciones o situaciones pasadas en un momento concreto y ...
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Se dice "los libros FUERON abiertos"?
Al iniciarse el juicio, los libros fueron abiertos.
¿Porqué "ser" en vez de "estar"?
https://www.bible.com/bible/1637/DAN.7.NVI — v. 10
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"Es limitado" vs "Está limitado"
Me como el coco un poco con el tema del uso de ser y estar con adjetivos, o, más bien, con participios usados como adjetivos.
Un ejemplo que me confunde en este momento es 'el tiempo es/está limitado',...
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Should I use "ser" or "estar" for dyed hair?
So I'm doing Duolingo and I just reviewed the To Be section and they had many examples of phrases similar to
He is blonde / Él es rubio
This makes sense to me as someone is intrinsically "...
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Ser rico / Estar rico
como de costumbre los foros presentan 48 opiniones diferentes acerca de este asunto, así que vengo aquí con la esperanza de encontrar alguna respuesta más o menos categórica que ponga fin a eso de una ...
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What is the difference between "completarse" and "estar terminado"?
I was trying to create my own sentences in Spanish and using a machine translator to check what I came up with. When I checked:
The trading must be completed by 4 this afternoon.
I was given this ...
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If I want to say something is "fresh" in Spanish, do I use "estar" or "ser"?
I was doing an exercise in the book, Spanish Grammar in Context when I came upon something rather simple, but something I had never really thought about before — whether or not to use estar or ser ...
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Gramática: predicado nominal o predicado verbal
Lucia está en la cama con fiebre desde el martes.
En mi libro “está” lo analiza como predicado nominal. Pero si yo quiero sustituir y hacer una prueba con el verbo quedarse por ejemplo, el ...
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Ser/estar feliz VS ser/estar contento
I'm sorry, I didn't find any explanations with the search feature, among the thread titles for the ser/estar feliz, so it was probably already answered, but it seems impossible to find. But, also, I ...
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Está aceptado vs. Es aceptado
Can I use both estar and ser with the adjective aceptado/a? ie.
El niño está aceptado en la universidad
or is it
El niño es aceptado en la universidad
?
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Does "ser loco" vs. "estar loco" work the same as in Brazilian Portuguese
In Brazilian Portuguese, both "estar louco" and "ser louco" may be used literally to refer to an insane person in a madhouse or figuratively to someone with a wild, unpredictable behavior. The only ...
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If I'm saying that something is two adjectives and one uses "ser" but the other uses "estar", what should I do?
If I am talking about my dog, and I want to say:
He is big and angry.
In Spanish, using "enojado" and "grande", what should I do?
"Enojado" uses estar, while "grande" uses ser.
How can I say ...
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¿Cuándo se usó el verbo "eser"? ¿Cómo se conjugaba?
En la pregunta ¿Tiene o ha tenido el verbo "ser" participio de presente? hemos descubierto una forma antigua del verbo ser:
eser
Del lat. *essĕre, de esse 'ser1'.
...
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¿Tiene o ha tenido el verbo "ser" participio de presente?
El antiguo participio de presente, que se diferencia del de pasado en que hace referencia a un sujeto activo más que a uno pasivo (amante el que ama activamente, amado el que recibe pasivamente el ...
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Using “ser” without "un/una"?
How come you can sometimes see phrases like “Es broma” or “Es muy linda ciudad”? Why is "un/una" left out?
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"Estar" vs "ser" for a particular example [duplicate]
In the following example (found in an example on one of language learning platforms), why ser is used instead of estar?
Este mensaje es para el jefe.
I know the differences that I've studied on ...
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Estás versus Eres: meanings in "you are a noun + adjective"
Please can someone confirm if this understanding is correct?
Both of the following sentences are correct. The distinction is that the first sentence grammatically says "at this moment you are a ...
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How can *estar aburrido* and *ser aburrido* both mean "to be boring"?
This is a question I'm asking just to answer it myself, but of course other answers are welcome.
Answering this question about the curious property of aburrido as an active adjective (instead of the ...
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Why are "ser" and "estar" used in these two sentences?
Why does sentence one use the verb estar and sentence two use the verb ser? Both translations are from google translate.
¿Cómo estuvo tu fin de semana? = How was your weekend?
¿Que tal fue tu noche? =...
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Why not this ? How are you in Spanish?
We say "¿Quién eres tú?" for "who are you?" in Spanish ok.
So why can't we say "¿Cómo eres tú?" for "how are you?" in Spanish?
"Eres tú" means "are you" so why is "Cómo eres tú" incorrect for "how ...
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"Se es" vs "es" (Traduciendo "it's like that")
Pensando en cómo traducir la frase inglesa:
It's like that, how could it be different?
Llegué a la frase española
Es así, ¿cómo puede ser distinto?
Pero no sé si es esta un situación en la que ...
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What is the difference between 'estoy' and 'soy'? [duplicate]
I thought that 'estoy' was the formal version of 'soy', but I saw that there were not many examples of using 'estoy' while referring to yourself. Also, I read that you don't use formal words when ...
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Why Estar conjugation is used with food-items? [duplicate]
Why the conjugations of verb Estar are used with food-items like sopa está caliente
I've been taught to use the conjugations of estar with the temporary state of things.
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Ser and Estar Questions
I am aware of most of the basic usage of when to use ser vs estar and also that the meaning can change depending on which adjective is being used. However, there are a few instances where I am unsure ...
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"Mi esposo piensa que es un santo" - why is "un" necessary in this sentence?
This was a practice sentence on Languagezen.com. I thought the correct answer would be "Mi esposo piensa que es santo".
I've read the following advice about using articles with ser:
Don't ...
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Dos formas por una función: "ser+participio" y "se pasiva" para referirse a algo en voz pasiva
Mis preguntas son algo básicas y generales:
¿Cuáles son los factores estilísticos y/o dialectales que inciden en la elección de "ser + participio" o "se pasiva refleja" para referirse a algo en voz ...
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Is 'sin ser' synonymous with 'sin estar'?
While I'm well aware of when to use ser versus when to use estar, I'm not so sure if the same rules apply to 'sin ser' and 'sin estar'.
According to WordReference.com:
sin ser = without being, ...
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Are there any rules governing when you can and cannot use a present tense form of "ser" + a past participle to form a passive sentence?
Primero mi pregunta en español:
¿Hay alguna regla que gobierna cuando se puede y cuando no se puede usar «ser» (en una forma de tiempo presente) + un participio pasado para formar una oración en la ...
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When do you use 'tener' to replace 'estar' or 'ser' for am/is/are?
Is there a general structure for using tener in certain constructions in place of estar or ser?
For example:
Ser. For ' am 11 years old' we say:
Yo tengo once años
not
Yo soy once años
Estar....
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What are the differences between "ser" and "estar"? When to use each? // ¿Cuáles son las diferencias entre "ser" y "estar"? ¿Cuándo se usa cada uno?
This is a canonical question / Esta es una pregunta canónica
This is a canonical question about the differences and usage of ser and estar. Feel free to collaborate both in the question as in the ...
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Uso de ser/estar cuando alguien es liberado
Hoy jugando con mi hijo mayor estábamos haciendo como que rescatábamos a un grupo de coches prisioneros de un malvado camión de basura. A la hora de poner a los coches en libertad, me salió decir:
¡...
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¿Cuándo se usa "es" o "son"? [duplicate]
Estoy hablando con un amigo que está en Canadá y dice que se le olvidó el español, pero parece que yo tampoco estoy seguro de cuál es la forma correcta o por qué.
¿Hay alguna regla para cuándo se usa ...
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Agreeing with the complement not the subject: esto son, eso son, lo mejor son
There are times in Spanish when a linking verb agrees in number not with its subject but with its predicate complement.
Lo mejor de la televisión son los avisos.
La mejor televisión son los avisos.
...
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¿Por qué decimos "La puerta 'es' abierta por el camarero" y no 'está'?
He encontrado unos ejercicios de ser y estar (enlace a un pdf). El numeral 25 del ejercicio número 1 es:
Elige entre ser o estar y conjuga.
La puerta ... (ser/estar) abierta por el camarero.
La ...
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Etymologically, why do "ser" and "estar" exist? / Etimológicamente, ¿por qué existen "ser" y "estar"?
This is a canonical question / Esta es una pregunta canónica
Ser and estar both mean "to be" in English. I understand this and also understand when to use each.
Why, however, do these two ...
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What is the difference between "el examen fue largo" and "el examen estuvo largo"?
What is the difference between el "examen fue largo" and "el examen estuvo largo"?
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What should we use when it comes to employment, "soy" or "estoy"?
I'm listening to Michael Thomas Spanish (disc 3, episode 6) and learning Castilian Spanish.
In this he explains the characteristics between ser and estar, which I thought I'd understood - ser is a ...
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Use of "está" to describe something being good/bad
I am learning Spanish with Collins Easy Learning Spanish.
It gives the follow example:
It is not very good = no es muy bueno
It’s very good = está muy bueno
Why does only one example use está to ...
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Present progressive of ser or estar
In English, if someone was treating me badly, I might say "he is being mean to me," or "he is being an as*****."
I tried translating it to Spanish in multiple ways;
Él está siendo ...
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"San Diego 'es' en California", or "San Diego 'está' en California"? [duplicate]
This came up in my Spanish I class. My understanding is that ser is used for descriptions of permanent characteristics, while estar is used for temporary conditions.
For people, location is the ...
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When is it appropriate to use 'ser' versus 'estar' for 'nuevo' or 'barato'?
Below are Spanish-to-English translations from a lesson on Memrise.com:
este está más barato (this one is cheaper)
este es más nuevo (this one is newer)
Why is estar used when describing something ...
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Which of the three Spanish "is" words should be used about the God's existence?
Which of the three Spanish is words (ser, estar, haber) should be used when talking about the God's existence?
And is there any difference between speaking about the existence of any (pagan) gods, or ...
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Translation of the phrase "I'm happy."
In the phrase:
I'm happy
Which one of these is grammatically correct to translate the phrase, ser or estar?
Soy feliz
or
Estoy feliz
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Empleo de Ser o Estar en la oraciòn
Quisiera saber cuál es el verbo correcto al usar ser/estar en estas 2 oraciones.
"La característica que observamos en la zona es que.....
1) Los biotopos tienden a estar/ser influenciados por ...
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¿Por qué escribimos "El abogado probó que su defendido 'era' inocente" y no 'sería'?
El abogado probó que su defendido sería/era/había sido/había estado inocente.
La frase es de Josefa Martin Garcia.
No entiendo por qué usa era en vez de sería.
¿Puede usar el pluscuamperfecto aquí?
user6979
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Why is "ser" and not "estar" used for expressing the current time? [duplicate]
As an example, if I wanted to say "it's 5:00," I would say
Son las cinco.
Why is this not the following?
Están las cinco.
As far as I know, ser is used for permanent / inherent qualities, ...
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Should I use 'ser' or 'estar' to talk about when an event takes place?
I'm trying to say that recurring events are on certain days. Since its an event, should it be a phrase with ser? Or since the events fall on certain days, do I use estar?
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"Estar" vs "ser" usage with "muy bien"
Está muy bien
Why not say "Es muy bien"?
In what context would you use "está muy bien"? What noun could you refer "estar" to? Could you refer "estar" to a ...
user5482
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Use of "ser" vs "estar" with past participle
Se compró una figura que estaba hecha de madera.
Why can't "era" be used in place of "estar"?
user5482