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What Seville is like. And what it's like today.

ser and estar: the verb that is one verb in English

Seville is beautiful, but today it's full of people.

Two «is», and in Spanish they are two different verbs. Getting them wrong is the first thing that gives an English speaker away — and nobody ever explains it properly.

ser — what something IS

What it is like, where it is from, what job it does, what its character is. The test: if you would still say it in ten years' time, it's ser.

ser → soyser → eresser → es
estar — how something IS right now

The state of the moment, and the place where something is. The test: if it could be different tomorrow, it's estar.

estar → estoyestar → estásestar → está

In English there is one verb «to be». In Spanish there are two, and picking one instead of the other is not a nuance: it changes what you are saying. It is the first real hurdle for anyone learning Spanish, and there is no way round it.

Sevilla es preciosa, pero hoy está llena de gente.
Seville is beautiful, but today it's full of people.
1ser — what something IS
ser→soyser→eresser→es

What it is like, where it is from, what job it does, what its character is. The test: if you would still say it in ten years' time, it's ser.

Soy inglés.
¿Eres de aquí?
Sevilla es preciosa.
2estar — how something IS right now
estar→estoyestar→estásestar→está

The state of the moment, and the place where something is. The test: if it could be different tomorrow, it's estar.

Estoy cansado.
¿Dónde estás?
La plaza está llena.
Soy cansado.
Estoy cansado.

In English you say «I am tired» and the temptation is to translate word for word. But tiredness passes: it is how you are right now, not what you are like. To a Spanish ear «soy cansado» sounds like «I am a tiresome person».

  • Where something is — always estar, even if it will never move: «la Giralda está en Sevilla». Location is estar, full stop — no reasoning about it.
  • listo, aburrido, bueno — change meaning depending on the verb. «Es listo» = he's clever; «está listo» = he's ready. «Es aburrido» = it's boring; «está aburrido» = he's bored. Same word, two different things.

Comment ça sonne dans la vraie vie

À toi de jouer

Quatre exercices, un par un. Ils sont corrigés directement sur ton téléphone : tu connais la réponse tout de suite. Appuie sur un mot pour le traduire — c'est gratuit.

Exercice 1 sur 4

Ser or estar? Tap the right form for each sentence.

Pour chaque phrase, appuie sur le mot qui va dans le trou.

Yo ___ inglés.
Mi hermano ___ en casa.
La plaza ___ llena de gente.
Sevilla ___ preciosa.
Mi hermano ___ profesor.
Hoy yo ___ cansado.
La Giralda ___ en Sevilla.
La Giralda ___ muy alta.
La règle de l'exercice : Look at the two pairs: the Giralda IS tall for ever (ser), but it IS LOCATED in Seville (estar) — and location is always estar. Your brother IS a teacher by trade (ser), but right now he IS at home (estar). The thing doesn't change: what changes is whether you're saying what it's like or how it is right now.
Exercice 2 sur 4

Put it back in order: «I'm English, but right now I'm in Seville.» — careful, the two «I'm» are not the same verb.

Appuie sur les mots dans le bon ordre.
La règle de l'exercice : In English you say «I'm» twice and never think about it. In Spanish the first is «soy» — where you're from, and that won't change — and the second is «estoy», because where you are right now is somewhere else tomorrow.
Exercice 3 sur 4

Complete the scene. Ask yourself each time: is it what it's like, or how it is right now?

Es abril y Sevilla en feria. La ciudad preciosa todo el año, pero estos días las calles llenas de gente. Yo cansado, pero contento.

La règle de l'exercice : «Preciosa» holds all year round, so ser. The feria, the crowded streets and your tiredness last a few days, so estar. It is always the same question: does it last, or does it pass?
Exercice 4 sur 4

You're at Spanish friends' house and the mother says: «el niño ya está listo». What is she saying?

La règle de l'exercice : «Estar listo» = to be ready. «Ser listo» = to be clever. The very same adjective, and what decides between the two meanings is the verb you put in front of it. It works the same way with aburrido: «es aburrido» is boring, «está aburrido» is bored.

Ceci est une leçon unique, la même pour tout le monde, sans la moitié des exercices qui nécessitent un profil : la dictée, l'écoute, la conversation, l'épreuve finale. Les autres leçons s'adaptent à ton niveau, retiennent tes erreurs et chacune illumine une ville sur la carte de l'Espagne. Et elles sont toutes gratuites, pas seulement celle-ci.

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Cette leçon se déroule à Sevilla. La page de la ville est ouverte comme celle-ci, et il y en a cent quatre-vingt-dix autres.

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