It is very confusing!  Two completely different verbs for TO BE.  Why do they have to do it??

Well, really it’s not confusing at all.  Yes, they are awkward to memorise, especially SER, which seems to follow no rules at all!  But really it is ENGLISH that is missing something. 

Think about this:  when you say “I am at the station” it means my location is at the station at this moment.  While if you say “I am a girl” you are saying you, as a being, happen to be female.  What relationship is there between the use of “am” in each case?  The answer, if you think about it, is NOTHING!

So remember how simple it is:

SER: this is about being you.  Or a thing being a thing.  These are permanent conditions, things you are born with.  You are you.  A table is a table.  An elephant is an elephant.  Nothing will ever change this pretty definite fact! In other words, use it when you use TO BE in a state of permanence.

ESTAR: If you have a temporary situation, which means you are in a place at a certain time, or you are feeling ill today, but tomorrow – or soon enough – you’ll be fine, or you are excited (because other times you will be bored, tired, sad, happy, concerned, nervous, etc etc etc), then this is a temporary state – so use ESTAR for temporary states.

And it’s more or less as simple as that!!

Here’s some ones to watch for:

- Ese chico es bueno (That boy is good) (He’s a good boy – that’s part of his permanent character as a person)

- Ese chico está bueno (That boy is hot!) (He’s looking sexy today – tomorrow morning, he might look a mess and be unshaven and smelly!)

- La carne es mala (The meat is bad) (It’s not a good cut, might be chewy and tough, etc.  This is part of the permanent make-up of the meat, it’s never going to be a good piece of meat)

- La carne está mala (The meat is off) (It was once ok, but now it has changed and it’s not good, because it has gone from good to bad).

Here are the conjugations of SER and ESTAR in the present tense:

SER

Yo soy (I am)
Tu eres (You are) (Single You, Informal form)
El es (He is)  / Ella es (She is)  / Usted es (You are, Single You, Formal form)

Nosotros somos (We are)
Vosotros sois (You  are, Plural You, Informal form)
Ellos son (They are), Ellas son (They are – all feminine), Ustedes son (You are, Plural You, Formal form)

Examples: 
Yo soy Toni (I am Toni). 
Nosotros somos de España (We are from Spain).
La mesa es de madera (The table is wooden).

ESTAR  (translations and forms exactly as above)

Yo estoy
Tu estás
El está  / Ella está  / Usted está

Nosotros estamos
Vosotros estáis
Ellos están  / Ellas están  / Ustedes están

Examples:
Vosotros estáis en la clase (You -plural informal – are in the class). 
Tu estás guapa hoy (You are pretty today). 
Yo estoy cansado (I am tired).

Happy practicing!!  Any questions, email me!

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