Ser and estar

Google voice when available; device voice as a fallback. Read along, then try each line aloud.

Ser identifies and classifies

Ser helps you identify someone, say where a person is from, or name a profession. Begin with soy for I, eres for informal you, and es for he, she, or formal you. Spanish often leaves out the subject pronoun when the meaning is already clear.

After ser, an unmodified profession normally appears without un or una. Say soy profesora, rather than translating every word from I am a teacher. Some profession words change for gender, while estudiante can describe a man or a woman.

Estar locates and describes a state

Estar is used for where people and things are and for many states or conditions. The first three forms are estoy, estás, and está. Written accents matter: está and estas are different words.

For location, en often means in or at: estoy en Chile, estoy en casa. For feelings or physical states, use an appropriate adjective or bien. Cansado and cansada change with the person described; bien does not change.

Choose the meaning you need

Do not rely on a permanent-versus-temporary rule. A museum’s location uses estar even if the museum never moves. Think instead about the message: identity or origin, a state, or the location of a person or thing.

Compare soy de Chile with estoy en Chile. One tells your origin; the other tells your location. For now, practice these clear contrasts. More complex adjective meanings and the location of events can wait until the basic patterns feel familiar.

Lesson vocabulary

Listen once, say it aloud, and try to recall the Spanish before looking.

Practice questions

Try every question, then check your answers. Capital letters and punctuation do not affect your score. Accents and ñ do matter.

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Independent practice

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