Spanish Steps - Visiting the sights - Grammar

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Talking about places: estar and ser

Estar and ser both mean to be.

To ask or say where a place is located, you use estar:

 
¿Está cerca?  Is it close?
Está en el centro.   It's in the centre.

 

But to talk about what the place is like, you use ser.

 

Es bonita, ¿verdad?  It's nice, isn't it?
Es muy antigua.  It's very old.

 

Ser and estar are irregular verbs and have their own distinct patterns:

 

  • I am... soy or estoy
  • You are... eres or estás

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  • It, he or she is... es or está

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