soy vs estoy in Spanish please

Question

soy vs estoy in Spanish please

In: 293

Answer 1

It’s not quite temporary versus permanent, although that often works as a short hand.

Ser is for innate qualities and estar is for acquired or extrinsic qualities. In some cases you can use either one and they are both grammatically correct:

Estoy triste: i am sad (right now)
Soy triste: I am a sad person (I have depression)

I think the permanence/ impermanence thing can throw English speakers in certain cases like “Muerte” / “dead”

Spanish uses estar because death, while permanent, is not an innate quality of being.