| Using Estar (To Be) | |
| Spanish for Beginners | |
It is probably most helpful to learn the two verbs separately, seeing how they function. After you've read this lesson, make sure you read the separate lesson on ser to see how it is used.
Here are the main uses of estar:
To indicate a state or condition, usually one resulting from a change
Examples: Estaba enferma. (She was sick.) Estoy muy triste. (I am very sad.)To indicate location
Examples: Las torres gemelas estaban en Nueva York. (The twin towers were in New York.) Estamos en casa. (We are at home.)Preceding de to form various idioms of condition or state
Examples: Estamos de viaje.(We are on a trip.) No están de broma. (They aren't kidding around.)With a present participle to form a progressive tense.
Examples: Está cantando. (He is singing.) Estaba estudiando en la biblioteca. (She was studying in the library.) Estaré trabajando. (I will be working.)To indicate suitability
Examples: La camisa te está pequeño. (The shirt is small for you.) Me estaba bien la comida. (The meal tasted good to me.)As you may have noticed, estar is irregular in some tenses. Following is its conjugation for the tenses most likely to be encountered by beginning students. Irregular forms are in boldface.
| Present | Past (preterite) | Past (imperfect) | Future | |
| yo | estoy (I am) | estuve (I was) | estaba (I was) | estaré (I will be) |
| tú | estás (you are) | estuviste (you were) | estabas (you were) | estarás (you will be) |
| él, ella, usted | está (he is, she is, you are) | estuvo (he was, she was, you were) | estaba (he was, she was, you were) | estará (he will be, she will be, you will be) |
| nosotros, nosotras | estamos (we are) | estuvimos (we were) | estábamos (we were) | estaremos (we will be) |
| vosotros, vosotras | estáis (you are) | estuvisteis (you were) | estabais (you were) | estaréis (you will be) |
| ellos, ellas, ustedes | están (they are, you are) | estuvieron (they were, you were) | estaban (they were, you were) | estarán (they will be, you will be) |
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