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Ser vs Estar

November 11th, 2007

I received this question about ser vs estar

Hello Marcus,

I am trying to teach my junior high students the difference between SER and ESTAR. As you know, that is not so easy, so I am looking for ways of making it as compresible as possible.

So, when using the question words cómo and dónde can I tell the students always to use ESTAR and not SER? Or are there so many exceptions to this home made rule of mine, that I am better off not even mention it to them?

Hope you have time to answer me!

Here’s my reply

Hi

I wouldn’t use your rule with cómo.

Generally, it will work with dónde, however beginners might get confused by ¿De dónde es? or informally ¿De dónde eres?

Here’s the thing, I think it’s wrong to isolate Ser and Estar. Instead, it’s better to make learning to use them part of an overall approach to Spanish.

That is, they are part of lessons in general, not in isolation. You’ll
see what I mean in the new follow up course to Synergy Spanish.

Good question though, and if you can give students an easy rule that works, it’s worth investigating.

One last comment, my daughter gets ser and estar wrong all the time. It’s about 50/50 whether she get’s it right. She’s 4 1/2 and Spanish is her native language.

Yet, nobody seems bothered by her errors. Just like when kids in English say “I putted on my shoes” most parents don’t say, “oh that’s an irregular verb you need to conjugate it differently.” Instead they just say “you put on your shoes, well done”. And in time the children aquire the correct usage.

I think we can do the same with ser and estar by using it in context rather than over analysis.

Best

Marcus