Ser, estar and tener
Which "to be" to use, and the tener phrases English says with "be": tengo hambre, tengo quince años.
Learn
Ser, estar and tener, explained point by point
Everything the GCSE specification expects you to be able to do, and how to actually do it - the same lesson a signed-in student studies from.
Use ser for what someone or something is
Ser gives identity, nationality, jobs, character and looks: Soy inglesa, Mi padre es médico, Es alto y muy simpático. Ask yourself whether you are saying what someone is like, rather than how they are today.
Use ser for the time, the day and where someone is from
The time takes ser: Es la una, Son las cuatro. So do days and dates, as in Hoy es martes, and ser de says where someone is from: Somos de Leeds.
Use estar for where someone or something is
Location takes estar, even for a place that never moves: Madrid está en el centro de España, ¿Dónde están mis libros? An event is the exception: where it takes place uses ser, as in La fiesta es en mi casa.
Use estar for states and feelings that can change
How someone feels, or how something is at the moment, takes estar: Estoy cansado, Mi hermana está nerviosa, La comida está fría. ¿Cómo estás? asks how someone is today.
Spot the adjectives that change meaning, like listo and aburrido
A few adjectives mean one thing with ser and another with estar. Es lista means she is clever, but Está lista means she is ready; Es aburrido means he is boring, but Está aburrido means he is bored.
Say how old you are and how you feel with tener
Where English says be, Spanish often says have: Tengo quince años (I am fifteen), Tengo hambre, Tengo sed, Tengo miedo. For very, use mucho or mucha to agree with the noun: Tengo mucho frío, Tengo mucha sed.
Tell apart hace frío, tengo frío and está frío
Cold and heat in the weather take hacer: Hace frío. A person who feels cold says Tengo frío, and a thing that is cold takes estar: El café está frío. Heat works the same way: Hace calor, Tengo calor.
Keep the same choice in the past with era and estaba
In the imperfect, era says what someone or something was like, and estaba how or where it was: El hotel era moderno, El hotel estaba lejos de la playa. Fue sums up a finished event: Fue un día genial.
Ser, estar and tener key terms
The words the specification and the mark schemes use, each defined the way an examiner wants it.
- ser
- To be, for what someone or something is: identity, nationality, job, character, looks and the time. Es simpática means she is friendly.
- estar
- To be, for where someone or something is and how it is right now: Estoy en casa, Está triste.
- ser de
- To be from a place, or to belong to someone: Soy de Cardiff means I am from Cardiff, and El libro es de Ana means the book is Ana’s.
- tener ... años
- To be a certain age, said by how many years you have: Tengo dieciséis años means I am sixteen.
- tener hambre and tener sed
- To be hungry and to be thirsty, literally to have hunger and thirst: Tengo mucha hambre means I am very hungry.
- tener frío and tener calor
- To be cold and to be hot, said of a person rather than the weather: Tengo calor means I am hot.
- tener miedo
- To be afraid: Mi hermano tiene miedo de los perros means my brother is afraid of dogs.
- listo
- Clever with ser and ready with estar: Es lista means she is clever, and Está lista means she is ready.
- era and estaba
- Two ways to say was: era for a trait, as in Era alto, and estaba for a state or a place, as in Estaba cansado.
Common mistakes in Ser, estar and tener
The slips that cost marks year after year, and what to do instead.
Using ser for a feeling, as in Soy cansado.
A feeling or state that can change takes estar: Estoy cansado, Está nerviosa. Keep ser for what someone is like all the time.
Using ser for where something is, as in Barcelona es en España.
Location takes estar, even for a city that never moves: Barcelona está en España, ¿Dónde está la estación? Ask yourself whether you are saying where.
Saying I am hungry with estar, as in Estoy hambre.
Hunger, thirst, age, cold, heat and fear take tener with a noun: Tengo hambre, Tengo quince años. For very, use mucho or mucha: Tengo mucha sed.
Describing cold or hot weather with ser or estar, as in Es frío.
Cold and heat in the weather take hacer: Hace frío, Hace calor. A person who feels it says Tengo frío, and a thing that is cold takes estar: La leche está fría.
Putting un or una before a job, as in Mi madre es una profesora.
After ser, a job or a nationality takes no article: Mi madre es profesora, Soy española. Add the article only with a description: Es una profesora excelente.
Practice
Try a Ser, estar and tener question
A GCSE-style original question from this topic. Have a go before you open the working - deciding on an answer first is what makes the working stick.
Which form completes the sentence? De pequeño, mi padre ___ un niño muy serio.
- estaba
- era
- eras
- tenía
Show the answer and the working
Answer: era
Describing what someone was like in the past takes the imperfect of ser, and before a noun (un niño) only ser works. For he, era: As a child, my dad was a very serious boy.
- De pequeño puts the sentence in the past.
- Un niño muy serio describes what he was like, with a noun.
- The imperfect of ser for he is era.