The verb estar (to be) is one of the most important irregular verbs in Spanish, as it is used to express actions in various situations. Therefore, knowledge of the conjugation of estar in the present, past and future tenses, as well as the ability to use this verb correctly, is fundamental to understanding many Spanish expressions.
The difference between the use of the verbs estar and ser
The verb ser (to be) and the verb estar (to be) have fairly close meanings, however, unlike the verb ser, which describes actions that are permanent, estar is used to express temporary actions that are taking place at the moment time. For example: Marisol es mujer - Marisol is a woman (in this case, es is the conjugation of the verb ser in the present tense in the third person singular, it can be omitted when translated into Russian), that is, Marisol is a woman and always will be. And another example: Marisol está en su casa - Marisol is at home, that is, she is there now, and in an hour she can leave the house for the store.
This is understandingThe difference in the use of ser and estar helps in dealing with more complex situations. For example, Marisol es pálida and Marisol está pálida, in the first case, it is said that Marisol has a pale skin color, and in the second case, that she has turned pale. Another example: Marisol es mala and Marisol está mal. The first sentence is translated as follows: Marisol is bad (evil and harmful), while the second sentence is translated as Marisol is sick.
Estar conjugation for indicative tenses
Being an irregular verb, estar uses its own conjugation rules, different from those for verbs ending in -ar. For simple tenses of the present, past and future in the indicative mood, the conjugation of the verb estar has the form presented in the table.
| Time | me | you | he, she | we | you | they |
| real | estoy | estás | está | estamos | estáis | están |
| past imperfect | estaba | estabas | estaba | estábamos | estabais | estaban |
| future | estaré | estarás | estará | estaremos | estaréis | estarán |
For example: Estoy en viaje - I travel. Javier estaba en viaje - Javier traveled. Estaremos en viaje en mes próximo - We will travel next month.
Subjunctive
The subjunctive mood is used when the speaker wants to convey his desires, to express some dubious action that may occur when a certain condition is met. The conjugation of estar in the Spanish subjunctive for three tenses takes the form shown in the following table.
| Time | me | you | he, she | we | you | they |
| real | esté | estes | esté | estemos | estéis | estén |
| future | estuviere | estuvieres | estuviere | estuviéremos | estuviereis | estuvieren |
| past imperfect | estuviera | estuvieras | estuviera | estuviéramos | estuvierais | estuvieran |
To show how these conjugations are used in the subjunctive, here are some examples:
- Ojalá estuvieres en su casa mañana - Perhaps you will be at his house tomorrow.
- Quienquiera que esté en el palacio será castigado con dos meses de prisión - Everyone who enters this castle will be punished with two months in prison.
- Si yo estuviera en su lugar ayudaría a esta anciana- If I were him, I would help this old lady.
Imperative
This mood is used to convey an order or request to another person. The conjugation of estar in this mood is as follows:
- For the second person singular (you) in the positive form it is está, and in the negative it is no estés.
- For the third person singular (you) in the positive form it is estad, in the negative it is no estéis.
Examples of using the conjugation estar in Spanish imperative:
- ¡Está felizmente enamorado! - Be happily in love!
- ¡No estés tan triste, por favor! - Don't be so sad, please!
- ¡Estad quietos, chicos! - Calm down boys!
- ¡No estéis andando lejos de casa! - Don't go far from home!
Stable expressions with estar
Because the verb estar is one of the main and frequently used verbs in Spanish, there are many fixed expressions with it that are recommended to be remembered in order to better understand colloquial speech. Below are the most common of these expressions:
- ¿Cómo estás? - How are you, how are you?
- Estamos de mudanza - We are relocating, moving.
- Estamos en otoño - It's autumn here.
- Estoy que me caigo - I just fall off my feet from fatigue.
- No estoy para bromas - I'm not in the mood to joke.
- Ellaestá que estalla de satisfacción - She is about to explode with complacency.
- Ya está - so they say when they want to convey information that the job is done.
- ¿Estamos? - Is everything clear?
- Estar de más - To be superfluous.
