soy vs estoy in Spanish please
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Spanish as a second language teacher here.
While there are exceptions for each case, the simplest way to see it is:
“ser” describes the way something or someone is/was/will be.
“estar” describes the way something or someone is/was/willl be doing.
case #2 for “estar”, it’s also used for something that changed. That’s why we use it for dead (you were alive, now you’re not). another example for this would be: If I say “eres gordo” I’m saying you are fat, like you’ve always been. but if I say “estás gordo”, I’m pointing out that you now look fatter than before, thus describing a change.
case #3 for “estar”, it describes location, which may sound temporary in cases like “you’re at the park” = “estás en el parque”, but we also use it for buildings and cities and such. “the bank is three blocks away from here” – “el banco está a tres cuadras de aquí”.
case #2 for “ser”, it’s used to describe when something was/is/will be. So, anything related to time, will most likely be described with “ser”.
¿qué hora es? = son las seis de la tarde. – what time is it? = it’s six in the afternoon.
la fiesta es el viernes en la noche – the party is on Friday night.
that’s as short as I can keep it, if you need more help with it, you are welcome to dm me.
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