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Shakespear said, "To be or not to Be." Ser and Estar.

In english "to be" is always to be and requires very little thought. In spanish both ser and estar mean to be but in different situations. Also they are irregular because they do not follow the easy pattern of the regular verbs. Therefore more thought is involved but these are probably the two most used verbs in spanish. Ser: means to be in enduring situations. I am a boy. I am tall. I am smart. I am from Spain. No matter what happens these will still be true. Estar: means to be but in a short time frame. I am in the kitchen. I am happy. I am sick. All these can change rather quickly.

Ser
Soy	I am	Nosotros	We are
eres	you are (familiar)
es	He,she, it is	Ustedes,ellos,ellas son	They are

Some examples of Ser:
Origin

Soy de Virginia.	I am of (from) Virginia.
de donde eres?	where are you from.
El es de panama.	He is from Panama.
Somos de Mexico.	We are from Mexico.
Son de Brazil.	They are from Brazil.

Physical attributes

El es alto.	He is tall.
Ellos son delgados.	They are slim.
Nosotros somos gordos.	We are fat

Relationships

Ellos son mis padres.	They are my parents.
above: All are plural Ellos, son, mis, padres
Tu eres mi amigo	You are my friend
above: You is a guy because of amigo a girl would be amiga
Ella es mi esposa.	She is my wife
El es mi esposo.	He is my husband.
Somos vecinos.	We are neighbors.

Personality characteristics

Ella es amable.	She is nice.
Ellos son c�micos.	They are funny.

Possession

La casa es m�a.	The house is mine.
El carro es m�o.	The car is mine.
M�o is mine (masculine) m�a is (femanine)
Nada aqui es tuyo.	Nothing here is yours.
Los libros son suyos.	The books are theirs.

Profession

El es medico	He is a doctor.
Ella es programadora.	She is a programmer.
Nosotros somos estudiantes.	We are students.
Perry Mason es abogado	Perry Mason is a lawyer.

Identification A horse is a horse of coarse of coarse....

El se�or Ed es un caballo.	Mr Ed is a horse.
ll is a letter which sounds more like a "J"
El es una mesa	it is a table.
Es una manzana	It is an apple.(implied it pronoun)

Date and time

Son las doce	It is two o'clock.
All but one is plural...just like english
Es la una	It is one o'clock.
Son las tres y media	It is three thirty (half past).

Nationality (these are not capitalized in spanish.)

Soy frances	I am french.
Ella es colombiana.	She is Colombian.(be careful of gender)
El es colombiano.	He is Colombian.

Natural colors Colors which have been changed use estar but the normal is ser.

La leche es blanca.	The milk is white.
Mi casa es marr�n.	My house is brown.

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