Kilo Lingo
Spanish grammar Part of Chapter 2

CEFR A1-A2

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Test yourself (33 questions)

Ser vs Estar in Spanish: When to Use Each (Chart and Quiz)

By Michael McGettrick and Sergio Linares-HernandesUpdated 11 October 2026

Use for what something is and for how or where it is. Both mean "to be":

Quick check

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

Pick the right one

0/3

Choose es (ser) or está (estar).

  1. La casa nueva. (what it is like)

  2. María bien. (how she is today)

  3. Madrid en España.

  • María . - María is tall. (what she is like)
  • María . - María is tired. (how she is right now)

The ser vs estar chart

The whole system on one screen. Everything below is detail.

serestarWhat do the colours mean?
UseVerbExample
Identity . It's a book.
DescriptionMaría . She's tall.
Job . I'm a teacher.
Character . He's nice.
Origin Madrid. I'm from Madrid.
Relationship . He's my brother.
Owner, material Ana. It's Ana's.
Time and days . It's three.
Where an event is . The party's here.
Location . She's at home.
Position . He's sitting down.
Condition, health . He's ill.
Mood . I'm sad.
Result of a change . The door's shut.
Action in progress . He's eating.

The blue box is and the dashed pink box is , on every example on this page.

Why "permanent vs temporary" is the wrong rule

Most courses teach for permanent things and for temporary ones. It fails on sentences you will say in your first week:

Why it breaksSpanishEnglish
forever, yet .My grandfather is dead.
fixed, yet Madrid .Madrid is in Spain.
one hour, yet .It's three o'clock.
one night, yet .The party's at my house.

The rule that works is what it is against how or where it is. Death is a state someone ends up in, so . Clock time says which hour it is, so . Ask which question the sentence answers:

  • What is it? Who is it? What is it like? : . - She's my sister.
  • Where is it? How is it right now? : . - It's on the table.

The working framework: DOCTOR and PLACE

Two acronyms cover the common cases. DOCTOR is :

DOCTOR (ser)ExampleEnglish
D: description .He's tall.
O: occupation .She's a doctor.
C: character .He's nice.
T: time and dates .It's Monday.
O: origin .She's Spanish.
R: relationship .He's my father.
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. .

A job is what someone is, so ser, and with no article: es médica, not es una médica.

PLACE is :

PLACE (estar)ExampleEnglish
P: position .She's sitting down.
L: location .I'm at home.
A: action .He's eating.
C: condition .She's tired.
E: emotion .We' happy.
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 someone is right now, so estar. The adjective agrees: contenta and enferma for her, cansado and enfadado for him.

A job takes no article after : . A stopgap job can also be , which says what someone is working as for now:

  • . - He's working as a waiter this summer.

The acronyms are scaffolding. The real rule is still what it is against how or where it is.

Worked examples

WhySpanishEnglish
origin: Madrid.I'm from Madrid.
location: Madrid.I'm in Madrid.
trait: María .María is tall.
state: María .María is tired.
time: .It's four o'clock.
state: .The coffee is hot.
job: .He's a doctor.
condition: .He's ill.

Ser and estar conjugation

Both verbs are irregular in the present, and both are among the commonest verbs in Spanish.

Personserestar
yo
, ,
,
  • ¿ ? - Where are you from?
  • ¿ ? - How are you?
  • . - We' friends.

The accents on , , and are compulsory: they put the stress on the last syllable. Without it, is a different word, this:

  • . - This house is here.

Location is always estar (with one exception)

The location of people and things takes , however permanent:

  • Madrid . - Madrid is in Spain.
  • . - The book is on the table.
  • . - I'm at home.

The exception is events. Where a party, a meeting or a class takes place uses , because an event happens somewhere rather than sitting there:

What it isSpanishEnglish
a thing .The house is on my street.
an event .The party is at the house.
an event .The meeting is here.

One line to remember: things use , events use .

One adjective, two meanings

A few adjectives change meaning with the verb. gives what someone is like; gives how they are right now:

  • . - He's boring.
  • . - He's bored.

The full set (, , and the rest), plus and in the past tenses, is on ser and estar beyond the basics.

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
. .tired is a condition
. .nationality is identity
Madrid .Madrid .location of a place
. .an event takes
. .the time is
. .no article before a job
. .the accent is compulsory

What to do next

  1. Ask "what is it?" or "how and where is it?" before every "is".
  2. Do the story and sort drills below.
  3. Then ser and estar beyond the basics for the past and the adjectives that change meaning.

Practise: test yourself

Complete the story

0/7

Choose the form of ser or estar for each gap.

María's Monday

María médica. de Madrid, pero ahora en Sevilla. Hoy lunes y muy cansada. las ocho y su casa lejos del hospital.

Gap 1 of 7

Sort into groups

0/8

Ser or estar? Sort each phrase by the verb it takes.

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/8

Choose es (ser) or está (estar).

  1. La casa nueva. (what it is like)

  2. María bien. (how she is today)

  3. Madrid en España.

  4. Mi madre en casa.

  5. El coche de Ana. (whose it is)

  6. Hoy lunes.

  7. La fiesta en mi casa. (where the party takes place)

  8. El hombre muerto.

Spot the mistake

0/4

Each sentence uses the wrong verb. Tap it.

Fill in the blank

0/6

Fill the gap with the present-tense form of ser or estar. Mind the accents on está and están.

  1. Yo de aquí. (origin, ser)

  2. Nosotros en casa. (location, estar)

  3. Ellos bien. (condition, estar)

  4. Tú mi amigo. (relationship, ser)

  5. Yo en casa. (location, estar)

  6. Vosotros muy simpáticos. (character, ser)

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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. The ser vs estar chart
  3. Why "permanent vs temporary" is the wrong rule
  4. The working framework: DOCTOR and PLACE
  5. The working framework: DOCTOR and PLACE
  6. Worked examples
  7. Ser and estar conjugation
  8. Location is always estar (with one exception)
  9. Mistakes English speakers make

Other formats

  1. Listicle

More grammar on this course

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between and ?
says what something is: identity, defining traits, origin, job, time and dates. says how or where something is: location, condition, mood. María (María is tall, a trait) but María (María is tired, her state right now).
Is it or for location?
, for people and things, however permanent: Madrid (Madrid is in Spain), (I'm at home). The one exception is events: where a party or a meeting takes place uses , as in (the party is at my house).
Why is it ' ' and not ' '?
Because Spanish treats death as a state someone has ended up in, and the result of a change takes : (my grandfather is dead). That is why 'permanent vs temporary' is a bad rule: nothing is more permanent than death, yet the verb is .
Do you use or for emotions?
, for how someone feels at the moment: (I'm sad), (she's happy). a person's character instead: (he's a nice person). The adjectives that change meaning with the verb are on the and beyond the basics page.
Is it or for time and dates?
. (it's three o'clock), (it's one o'clock), (it's Monday). A time, a day or a date is , however short it lasts. The one twist is the set phrase a or a 3 (literally we are at), which uses .