Coffee Break Spanish - When to use ‘ser’ and ‘estar’ in Spanish | The Coffee Break Spanish Show 1.07

Episode Date: November 30, 2023

We have reached episode 7 of The Coffee Break Spanish Show! This time, we're talking about the difference between ‘ser’ and ‘estar’, and when to use each of them to mean "to be". By the end of this episode you'll be confident in knowing whether to use ‘ser’ or ‘estar’ in your Spanish conversations!➡️ Click to access the blog article and worksheet which accompany this episode ⬅️ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to Coffee Break Spanish Welcome to the Coffee Break Spanish Show I'm Mark And I'm Concha, how are you? Very well, and you, how are you? Very well, very emotional about to be here. And I'm also.

In these weekly episodes, we're helping you build your knowledge of the Spanish language one coffee break at a time. Exactly. So don't forget to subscribe to the podcast feed, whatever you're listening to

or if you're watching us subscribe to our YouTube channel. Now Concha, what are we focusing on? in this episode. So today we are looking at a very interesting topic, which is CER versus Estar. A classic. Yes, yes, yes, yes. It's one of the favorites. Let's start. I think when we start learning Spanish and learning about

ser and they start the fact that there are two verbs for to be, it's quite confusing for a learner, a new learner to this. But we do kind of establish a certain element of Ser is for kind of permanent things and de sta is for temporary things but I think in this episode we're going to give our listeners and our viewers some clues as to how always to get this right

how to really solve our ser and de start problems exactly so the difference that you said temporary versus permanent is not wrong because it applies to most of the uses however I always want to think I always like to think about ser as something more related to the identity of something or someone.

And this is more related to the circumstance of that person or that object or that whatever we're talking about in that moment. Okay. So, yeah, so if I describe something, for example, if I describe my car and I say, is grand, it's big, is blue, is rapid, is fast, that's all part of the identity of this object. Yeah, that makes sense. And in this sense, you're using Ser, in each case, is grand,

is a blue, is rapido, and so on, because these are, yes, they're permanent characteristics, but they're about the identity of the car. I could say, Soi professor. Exactly. We could talk about someone as,

Conza, is Spaniola. That is. Or El Ombre is Catholic. So, inherent characteristics of the, the person. Yeah. And it's very interesting that you said is professor because we can think of

before you were a teacher, you were a student, you were studying how to be a teacher. In that case, I can say, so I'm a student. Yeah. It might be a bit confusing because you think, okay, but I won't be a student forever. Oh, you should be. Always studying something. Always learning. But yeah, then I move on to being a teacher. So we could think of that as temporary. However, that is my identity at the moment. That's how I identify in that moment. So I'm a student. That's why we use it. Perfect.

So let's describe someone else. You were telling me earlier about your little cousin. That's, yes. So my little cousin, she is blonde. So is rubia. That's her. Also is Spanish. And she's Spanish.

And also she is a student. She's Spanish. She's blonde. And hello, Laura. What's that? Good luck with your new unicorns Yeah, because you said

she was starting her new course. Exactly. So I was speaking to her this morning and in the phone call I could tell that she was very happy.

So in this case because she's happy because of the circumstance that she's starting a new course, we would use the verb

estat in this case. So I would say she's a much contenta. Okay, so there we're using estat and we could think

of it as a temporary situation. Hopefully she'll always be happy. Yeah, hopefully. But is that content because it's the circumstance around that that's leading to her happiness at the stage.

Exactly. Let's put all of this into practice with an activity. It's an activity involving a little story, I think. Yes, exactly. So I was telling you about my cousin earlier, but you were telling me about your sister. I was indeed. So my sister's just been on holiday. And what we're going to do now is talk a little about my sister.

and we're going to really focus on this idea of identity and circumstance to help us decide which verb of between set and they start to use. So first of all, we'll describe my sister. So she's tall. She's rubia. She's blonde. Blonde. She's blanca. She's pale-skinned.

Is simpatica. She's nice. Perfect. So you said she was on holiday. Yeah. So, okay. Now, let's imagine that I meet your sister during her holiday. Okay.

Now, for her holiday, she decided to change her hair for a little bit of a holiday more look. Yeah. Okay. And she is now ginger. Okay. So she's right here. That's right. So is.

Is peli roja. So if I describe your sister, I would say, Esaltta, because that hasn't changed. Is peli roja. Now, because she was. on holiday and she was on the beach. I'm guessing she got a little tan. So I would say is morena. Okay. And not only that, but on the beach, I had a little interaction with her and she must have been in a bad mood or something. It was too hot. She always gives...

Probably, yeah. We need to drink more water. So yeah, so for me, she was a little antipatica. Okay. I promise she's not. She's not. But... I'm sure she's not. It can get to anyone. So is antipatica. Based on what you saw, the identity of the person that you were seeing, you felt, oh, this person must not be a nice person. Exactly. And likewise, with her hair, you had no reason to guess that she isn't normally red-haired. That's, for me, she was peli-roja. But if I had seen her on the same day, I would have been surprised and I would have said, oh, my sisters died her hair red.

In which case, I would say, esther pale roja. And same with antipatica. If you had seen her that day, you would have said something like, oh, istantapita today? Yeah, you're being a little bit grumpy today. Have you drunk plenty of water? Exactly, because for you, that is not part of her identity. That is related to the circumstances.

Exactly. Okay. We could see the similar idea with Moreno or Morena, because I know that my sister's normally quite pale-skinned, but if she's been in the sun, I thought, like, what is morena? Your tan, your darker skinned and so on. So what we've done today is look at the idea of ser and estar and considered ser to do with identity and estar to do with circumstances. And I think we're going to put it into practice.

Let's go there. So I have a couple of translation challenges for you. Okay. So I'm going to give you a sentence in English. You have to translate it into Spanish. Okay. And I might even give our listeners and viewers some time to the time. about it.

For sure, exactly. Okay. The first phrase is Pedro is a healthy boy

but today he is sick. Okay. So let's think about this. Pedro is a healthy boy but today

he is sick. We'll give you 10 seconds to think about this. Okay. So Pedro is a healthy boy.

Pedro is a child sano. Exactly. That is a good. Is a

good. Why has used it, Mark? Because we're describing his character is a part of him.

It's his identity. Exactly. Okay. Is a tigo sano. But today he is sick. So in English, he is a healthy boy. He is sick. Same verb.

But in Spanish, Pedro is a chico sano, but today is an inferno. Exactly. So the verb is that here is related to the circumstances of today.

He is not feeling well because of something. Maybe he's got a tommy bag or something like that, but that is not part of his identity. No. It's how he's feeling today. Okay, so let's take another translation challenge.

This time we'd like you to translate, normally, you are very serious, but today you're funny. Okay, 10 seconds. Okay, so normally you are very serious, but today you are funny. Okay, so normally, normally, you are very serious, you are serious, erres serious. So it's a keyword there is normally. We're talking about your, it's like a personality trait. So that is normally part of your identity. And that is why we are using the verb said.

It is serious. But today, but today, but today, but we are talking about a specific time, so around the specific circumstance. But today, today istas gracioso. Exactly. Hoy istaz gracioso. But if you were describing a person as being a funny person, part of their identity, is a person a graciosa. Exactly.

And you could say, oh, it is a person a graciosa. but today is serious. So something must have happened because you're not that funny. Exactly. Okay, so there we have it. Concha, before we finish,

I do have one question for you. When you began learning English and of course, you were used to Ser and Estar in Spanish, which you probably didn't think about because you just knew that. Yeah. But when you discovered

that there was only one word in English for to be for Ser and de Starr, how did that make you feel? Oh, I was very happy. I was very happy that I could use all my knowledge that I have of these two verbs and just put them into one. One verb. You only had to learn one verb.

Yes, so is. Well, I think that will do us for now. I think we're finished for just now. We hope that you enjoyed this lesson. And if you'd like to see more examples of this written down, then check out our blog post and there's a link in the description for that. Yes, so is. And if you'll like more help with your Spanish, you can get regular free email lessons. Just visit coffeebreaklanguages.com slash Spanish. And yeah, look out. for the next million is many lessons in your inbox. Exactly. Well, much

thanks, Concha. Thanks a ti. And one thing to mention is that next time we're going to be taking Ser and Estar a little further. Exactly. Going to be looking at some of those exceptions to the rules. But it will be fine because everyone understands Ser and they start now.

Perfectly. We'll see you again soon. Until la proxima. And happy coffee breaking. You have been listening to a Coffee Break Language's production for the Radio Lingua Network. 2023 Radio Lingual Limited. Recording copyright,

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