When to Use Ser and Estar – Learning Spanish for Beginners

When focusing on learning conversational Spanish for beginners,

there are some topics that are more important than others.

Knowing when to use Ser and Estar is without a question a useful tool

that can accelerate the process of learning Spanish for beginners.

Let’s take a look at some examples of when to use Ser and Estar

When to Use Ser and Estar Chart:

	Example in English	Example in Spanish
SER is used…
When Talking About Permanent or Essential Characteristics	She is inteligent	Ella es inteligente
When Talking About the Time (Date / Hour / Days of the Week)	What time is it?	¿Qué hora es?
When Talking About Possessions	This is Lucía´s house	Esta casa es de Lucía
When Talking About The Material Something is Made of	The spoon is made of metal	La cuchara es de metal
When Talking About Relationships	Maria is Roberto´s girlfriend	María es la novia de Roberto
When Talking About Where an event is happening	The class is at the school	La clase es en la escuela
When Talking About Someone’s Religion	I am catholic	Soy católico
When Talking About Someone’s Profession or Occupation	I am a Mechanical Engineer	Soy Ingeniero Mecánico
When Talking About Someone’s Nationality	I am Mexican	Soy Mexicano
When Talking About Someone’s Place of Origin	Where are you from?	¿De dónde eres?
ESTAR is used…
When Talking About Locations	I am in my room	Estoy en mi cuarto
When Talking About Ongoing Actions	I am talking to my friends	Estoy hablando con mis amigos
When Using Adjectives to describe how something is (temporarily)	I am tired	Estoy cansado

We hope our When to Use Ser and Estar Chart makes things easier for you as you continue on learning Spanish for beginners.

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