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Play a game of kahoot with a friend or two, working with estar and prepositions.

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Play a game of ser and estar jeopardy with a friend.

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Complete the exercises in the powerpoint. Post your answers to activity 2 in the (possible future) discussion area.

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As seen above, we use estar to describe the position of objects. Follow the arrows to learn about common prepositions and phrases used with estar to express location and describe the position of people and things.

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Here are examples of estar + prepositions in context.

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El verbo estar y El lápiz está encima del escritorio. La pluma está al lado de la mochila. Los libros están enfrente del cuaderno. El borrador está entre los papeles. El cuaderno está debajo de la mochila. El borrador está encima del escritorio. El papel está dentro del cuaderno.

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This quizlet is a good resource for memorizing estar prepositions

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Start studying Estar. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Complete the paragraph with the correct verbs.

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This interactive practice will give you detailed explanations about Ser or Estar is used in each example.

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Practice using Ser and Estar, a Spanish tutorial created by Penn State Berks

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The Center for Learning & Teaching at Penn State Berks is committed to making its websites accessible to all users, and welcomes comments or suggestions on access improvements. Please send comments or suggestions on accessibility to the webmaster.

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In this section we will learn to use the verb "estar," which is one of two Spanish verbs that mean "to be." We will use estar to describe the locations of people and things, to express emotional states, and to talk about actions in progress. But first, let's take a look at the key differences between estar and our other "to be" verb: ser.

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A game of Who Wants to be a Millionaire focused on Ser and Estar. Optional.

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"Ser" vs. "Estar" Practice Quiz | SpanishDict

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Learn about "ser" vs. "estar" with fun practice quizzes.

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Very detailed information about using these two verbs. (Optional)

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Tricky Pairs

Learning the differences between and , por and para, and the subjunctive and the indicative is often quite challenging for learners of Spanish. ( Cheer up!) After reading this article, you'll have a good handle on the first of these tricky pairs, and .

Review Time: if you're not sure how to conjugate these two important verbs (they're irregular), check out the verb conjugation tables for ser and estar.

is used to talk about permanent or lasting attributes. If this general rule is too vague for you, think of the acronym DOCTOR, which stands for Descriptions, Occupations, Characteristics, Time, Origin, and R elationships. Let's take a look at each of the above categories individually.

1. Descriptions

Descriptions are the essential qualities that define a person or thing and probably won't change anytime soon. These descriptions can be names, physical descriptions, nationalities, and even religions.

2. Occupations

An occupation is what someone does for a living or as a hobby. Basically, if you're talking about how someone makes money or fills their time, you'll use .

Notice that the indefinite articles , , , and may not be used when talking about occupations with . They're often only included if extra information following the occupation is given. Compare the following:

3. Characteristics

Characteristics are personality descriptions of a person. This category is included to hammer home the point that is used to talk about descriptions.

4. Time

Time can refer to days, dates, years, and the time on the clock.

5. Origin

The place a person or thing is from or the material something is made of can be considered an origin.

6. Relationships

Personal relationships, such as family ties, friendship, and romantic relationships, are also talked about using .

Uses of Estar

is used to indicate temporary states and locations. If that general rule doesn't suffice, there are two acronyms that you can think of, PLACE and LoCo. PLACE stands for Position, Location, Action, Condition, and Emotion. LoCo stands for Locations and Conditions. Let's look at PLACE now.

1. Position

Position refers to the physical position or posture a person or thing is in.

2. Location

The location of someone or something describes where it is permanently, temporarily, or conceptually.

Exception! The location of an event or party is described using , not .

3. Actions

Intriguingly, death in Spanish is seen as an ongoing action, not a permanent state, so estar is used to talk about being dead.

4. Conditions

Physical and mental conditions are described using . Things that are likely to vary over several hours, days, or even years can fall into this category.

5. Emotions

How a person is feeling at a certain moment is described using estar .

Meaning Changes With Ser and Estar Phrases

There are some words that can be used with both ser and estar to form verb phrases, and these take on different meanings depending on the verb. Here are some examples of these types of phrases.

Want to learn more about other tricky Spanish verb pairs? Check out these articles!

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Spanish Grammar Articles and Lessons | SpanishDictionary.com

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Expert articles and interactive video lessons on how to use the Spanish language. Learn about 'por' vs. 'para', Spanish pronunciation, typing Spanish accents, and more.

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DOCTOR and PLACE are popular mnemonic devices for using ser and estar.

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Use this image as a reference tool for common prepositions that go with estar.

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Watch this video for a detailed explanation of the uses of ser and estar.

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Aprender español: Usos de SER y ESTAR (nivel básico)

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Refer to this image at an time to find the conjugations for the verbs ser and estar.