Kilo Lingo
Portuguese grammar Part of Chapter 1

CEFR A1

4 min read

Test yourself (23 questions)

Ser vs Estar in Portuguese: The Rule That Actually Holds

By Michael McGettrick and Jairo KasmierchckiUpdated 11 October 2026

English has one verb for to be. Portuguese has two: names what something is, describes where and how it is right now. Choosing between them is the first real decision you make in almost every sentence.

Quick check

Three quick questions on what you have just read. The full practice is further down.

Pick the right one

0/3

Which verb does the sentence need?

  1. My name is Ana

  2. I am at home

  3. She is a doctor

Ser vs estar: the uses in one table

serestarWhat do the colours mean?
UseExampleEnglish
identity, names Pedro.I am Pedro.
nationality, origin .He is Brazilian.
profession .She is a doctor.
time and dates .It is two o'clock.
where an event is .The party is here.
where people are .I am at home.
state or mood .He is tired.
weather .It is cold.
happening now .I am speaking.
result of a change .The door is open.
Four faces: a girl grinning with sparkles and a heart (happy); a yawning boy with heavy eyelids under a moon (tired); a girl with a cold compress, a thermometer and a scarf (ill); a curly-haired boy frowning with steam puffing from his head (angry).
  1. .
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .

How each of them is right now: a state, so estar. The adjective agrees with the person. (EP says zangado for angry.)

Notice the event row. A party is not an object sitting somewhere; it takes place, so where it happens is part of what it is, and it takes . The permanent-or-temporary shorthand would have sent you to .

EP: says the happening-now row with and the infinitive: ., I am speaking.

The shorthand, and why it will let you down

Almost every course opens with permanent against temporary, and it is a fair place to start:

  • . - He is her father. (that does not change)
  • . - I am at home. (I will not be later)

Use that rule and you are right most of the time in your first month. Then it leaks, in both directions:

SentenceEnglishWhy it fails
.He is dead.permanent, yet
?How much is it?prices change, yet
.She is young.youth passes, yet

So the shorthand is scaffolding, not the building.

The line that actually holds

Ask which of these two you are doing:

  1. Naming what something IS: its identity, origin, job, what kind of thing it is. That is : ., she is a teacher.
  2. Describing the condition it is IN: where it is now, how it stands, what has happened to it. That is : ., she is tired.
Four people in their work clothes: a woman doctor with long hair and a bow, in a white coat with a stethoscope; a man teacher with glasses, a moustache and a tie, pointing at a board and holding a book; a man cook with a moustache, in a chef's hat and apron, holding a frying pan with an egg; a man police officer with a moustache, in a blue uniform and cap.
  1. .
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .

What each of them is: a job names the person, so ser, however long they keep it. (EP says polícia for a police officer.)

Read that way, the awkward cases stop being awkward. Death is a state a person has ended up in, not a category of person, so . A price is presented as a fact about the thing, so . The line is not about how long something lasts; it is about classifying against describing.

Both are irregular, and both are unavoidable

They head the list of irregulars in the Portuguese verb groups, and there is no way round learning them. Here is the present:

Personserestar
/ /
/
tu (EP)

Brazil uses for the everyday you, and takes the same form as , so four rows cover what a Brazilian says:

  • ? - Are you from Lisbon?
  • . - We are here.

uses with friends and family: ., you are very nice. That difference is one of the places where Brazilian and European Portuguese part company.

Ser and estar in the past

For reference: the course teaches the past later. In the simple past the two verbs part company in shape as well as meaning.

Person, past, past
/ /
/
  • . - The party was great.
  • . - I was in Lisbon.

One oddity: the past of is identical to the past of , to go. Context always settles it:

  • . - I was a teacher.
  • . - I went to Brazil.

The used to be forms are and : ., the house used to be big; ., I was tired.

Where the two change the meaning

With some adjectives the verb carries the meaning. Same adjective, two different claims:

  • . - The house is a good one. (a property of the house)
  • . - The house is in good shape. (how it is now)
With With
. .
he is a happy personhe is happy right now
. .
she is good-lookingshe looks nice today
. .
a boring personhe is being annoying today

A Portuguese speaker does not hear the second of each pair as a shade of the first. They hear a different statement.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
.where you are now:
.a job:
é .a state he ended up in:
a .where an event happens:
Ana Ana.identity:

How to get it right without thinking

Three habits cover most of what you will say in your first months:

  1. Where a person or a movable thing is: . ., he is here.
  2. Where a building or a city is: ficar is the usual Brazilian choice. ?, where is the museum?
  3. Identity: . Names, nationalities, jobs, family: ., she is my sister.

If you know Spanish, the Spanish ser and estar maps onto this closely, but where Spanish says a building somewhere, Portuguese says . Both verbs are in the first chapter of the Portuguese course, which is where to make them automatic.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

0/5

Which verb does the sentence need?

  1. My name is Ana

  2. I am at home

  3. She is a doctor

  4. The coffee is cold (right now)

  5. He is Brazilian

Sort into groups

0/6

Sort each phrase by the verb it needs.

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Complete the story

0/6

Choose the right form of ser or estar for each gap.

Ana's Monday

A Ana brasileira. Ela professora. Hoje ela em casa, porque muito cansada. frio lá fora. dez horas da manhã.

Gap 1 of 6

Spot the mistake

0/3

Tap the wrong verb.

Translation drill

0/3

Read which verb is doing the work.

  1. Ele é o pai dela.

  2. Eu estou em casa.

  3. A casa é boa.

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Practice worksheets and infographics

Practice worksheets with answer keys built in, plus infographic and listicle formats. Open any one to view, print or save.

Infographics

  1. Key points infographic
  2. Ser vs estar: the uses in one table
  3. The shorthand, and why it will let you down
  4. Both are irregular, and both are unavoidable
  5. Ser and estar in the past
  6. Where the two change the meaning
  7. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between and in Portuguese?
describes identity and essential properties: who someone is, where they are from, what they do ( , she is a doctor). describes condition and location: how something is at the moment, where it is ( , she is at home). Both translate as to be, which is why English speakers find the split hard.
Is permanent and temporary?
As a first approximation, yes, and it gets a beginner a long way. But it leaks in both directions. Being dead is permanent and takes : . A price changes weekly and takes : ?, how much is it? The more reliable question is whether you are naming what something IS or describing the state it is IN.
How do you conjugate and ?
Both are irregular. In the Brazilian present, gives , é, , , and gives , , , . takes the same form as and , so four forms cover what a Brazilian says. In you also need the forms, and .
Which verb do I use for location?
for where a person or a movable thing is right now: , I am at home. For where a building or a city is, Brazilians usually say ( ?) or ( ?). Where an event takes place takes : .
Does getting it wrong change the meaning?
Sometimes, and memorably. With some adjectives the two verbs give different senses: means he is a boring person, means he is being annoying today. names a characteristic, reports a current state, and Portuguese marks the difference with the verb rather than with extra words.