{"id":402,"date":"2020-03-11T03:10:29","date_gmt":"2020-03-11T03:10:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-introductoryspanish1\/?post_type=chapter&p=402"},"modified":"2024-04-29T19:34:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-29T19:34:00","slug":"introduction-to-5","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/wm-spanish1-2\/chapter\/introduction-to-5\/","title":{"raw":"Introduction to \u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1s?","rendered":"Introduction to \u00bfC\u00f3mo est\u00e1s?"},"content":{"raw":"As we have already seen, Spanish has two verbs that translate to the English \"to be\":\u00a0ser\u00a0<\/em><\/span>and\u00a0estar.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>In this section, we'll look at one of the most common uses of\u00a0estar<\/em><\/span>: to describe conditions and emotions.\r\n\r\n\"a<\/a>Why are there two verbs? Romance languages (Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian) derive from Latin, and Latin had three main verbs that could function like \"to be\":\u00a0sed\u0113re<\/strong> \"to sit\", esse<\/strong> \"to be\", and st\u0101re<\/strong> \"to stand\" or \"to stay\". The first two, sed\u0113re<\/strong> and\u00a0esse<\/strong>, combined eventually into *essere<\/strong>, which came to mean\u00a0\"to be (permanently or essentially)\", in contrast to\u00a0st\u0101re<\/strong>, <\/strong>which meant\u00a0\"to be (temporarily or incidentally).\" Do you see where we're going here? *Essere<\/strong> = ser<\/span><\/em>;\u00a0st\u0101re <\/strong>= estar<\/span><\/em>.\r\n\r\nNote: although English has only one form of \"to be,\" we still get to join in the fun with words that take on qualities from their etymological roots. Esse<\/strong> gives us essence, essential, presence, and absence (among others), while\u00a0st\u0101re\u00a0<\/strong>gives us instance, instant, state, status, station, and substitute. See the pattern?\r\n\r\nSo does that help you understand the difference between ser <\/em><\/span> and\u00a0estar<\/em><\/span>?\r\n\r\nNo? OK, how about this: \"For how you feel\u00a0or where you are, always\u00a0use\u00a0the verb\u00a0estar<\/em>.\"","rendered":"

As we have already seen, Spanish has two verbs that translate to the English “to be”:\u00a0ser\u00a0<\/em><\/span>and\u00a0estar.\u00a0<\/em><\/span>In this section, we’ll look at one of the most common uses of\u00a0estar<\/em><\/span>: to describe conditions and emotions.<\/p>\n

Note: although English has only one form of “to be,” we still get to join in the fun with words that take on qualities from their etymological roots. Esse<\/strong> gives us essence, essential, presence, and absence (among others), while\u00a0st\u0101re\u00a0<\/strong>gives us instance, instant, state, status, station, and substitute. See the pattern?<\/p>\n

So does that help you understand the difference between ser <\/em><\/span> and\u00a0estar<\/em><\/span>?<\/p>\n

No? OK, how about this: “For how you feel\u00a0or where you are, always\u00a0use\u00a0the verb\u00a0estar<\/em>.”<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\"a<\/a>Why are there two verbs? Romance languages (Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian) derive from Latin, and Latin had three main verbs that could function like “to be”:\u00a0sed\u0113re<\/strong> “to sit”, esse<\/strong> “to be”, and st\u0101re<\/strong> “to stand” or “to stay”. The first two, sed\u0113re<\/strong> and\u00a0esse<\/strong>, combined eventually into *essere<\/strong>, which came to mean\u00a0“to be (permanently or essentially)”, in contrast to\u00a0st\u0101re<\/strong>, <\/strong>which meant\u00a0“to be (temporarily or incidentally).” Do you see where we’re going here? *Essere<\/strong> = ser<\/span><\/em>;\u00a0st\u0101re <\/strong>= estar<\/span><\/em>.<\/p>\n