Catalan estar “to be” presents a subject in a state, resultant condition, durative location, or selected ongoing construction. Its present forms are estic, estàs, està, estem, esteu, and estan. English uses be both here and in the domains of Catalan ser, so the English verb alone cannot tell you which Catalan verb to choose.
The common “permanent versus temporary” shortcut is only a rough first hint. Catalan also uses ser for neutral location and for some conditions that are not permanent, while estar often adds the viewpoint of a state, result, duration, or deliberate continuation.
The complete present paradigm
| Person | Present of estar |
|---|---|
| jo | estic |
| tu | estàs |
| ell / ella / vostè | està |
| nosaltres | estem |
| vosaltres | esteu |
| ells / elles / vostès | estan |
Estic cansada; avui he sortit de casa a les sis.
I'm tired; today I left home at six.
Esteu preparats o necessiteu cinc minuts més?
Are you ready, or do you need five more minutes?
Els nens estan desperts, però ja són al llit.
The children are awake, but they're already in bed.
The paradigm is irregular. First-person estic has final -c, and estàs and està require a grave accent. Estan has no written accent: as a word ending in -an, its final stress is predictable. Subject pronouns are normally omitted because person and number are clear from the verb.
States with adjectives
Use estar for a subject viewed in a condition at the relevant time: emotional state, health, readiness, or a condition understood as the outcome of a change.
La Berta està nerviosa perquè avui té una entrevista.
Berta is nervous because she has an interview today.
No estem malalts; només estem molt cansats.
We aren't ill; we're just very tired.
El cafè està fred perquè l'hem deixat damunt la taula fa mitja hora.
The coffee is cold because we left it on the table half an hour ago.
The adjective agrees with the subject: estic cansat/cansada; estem cansats/cansades. The verb itself marks person and number but not gender.
Some adjectives allow ser or estar with a viewpoint difference. El cafè és fred gives a simple description; el cafè està fred readily suggests that it has cooled or that the speaker finds it cold. Other combinations are lexically conventional: traditional Catalan prefers és viu, és mort, és casat even though English learners may think of these as “states.” Present-day usage also admits estar with several such adjectives, especially when context foregrounds a change or a particular situation. There is no perfectly logical universal formula; common pairings and their viewpoint differences must be learned.
Resultant conditions and participles
Estar + past participle often presents the result left by an earlier event. The participle agrees like an adjective.
La porta està tancada, però les finestres estan obertes.
The door is closed, but the windows are open.
Ja està tot preparat per a la reunió.
Everything is ready for the meeting now.
Contrast a result with an eventive passive: La porta està tancada describes its condition; (formal) La porta és tancada pel personal a les deu describes the act or routine of closing it. Catalan also permits variation between ser and estar with some participial adjectives, but estar is especially clear when a prior change and its current result are prominent.
Prepositional expressions can also name a state: estar a punt, estar de vacances, estar en perill, estar a la venda, estar d'acord. These are conventional combinations, not ordinary physical locations.
El tren està a punt de sortir i encara no trobo el bitllet.
The train is about to leave and I still can't find the ticket.
Estem d'acord amb el diagnòstic, però no amb la solució.
We agree with the diagnosis, but not with the solution.
Location with duration, residence, or fixation
For a neutral answer to “where?”, the traditional Central baseline uses ser: La Núria és a casa; les claus són al calaix. Use estar when location is construed as continued presence, residence, work, fixation, or a position resulting from placement. Valencian and some other varieties also use estar more broadly for bare physical location.
For the neutral-location pattern and the full present paradigm, see Present of Ser.
Aquesta setmana estic a Girona per feina.
This week I'm in Girona for work.
El director està al despatx de nou a dues.
The director is in the office from nine to two.
Els cartells estan enganxats a la porta principal.
The signs are stuck to the main door.
The time expressions in the first two examples make duration central. Compare Central-baseline On és el director?—a request for bare location—with El director està al despatx de nou a dues—a period of presence. In present-day speech, estar also appears more broadly for location; follow the usage of the regional standard you are learning rather than treating every bare locative estar as an error.
The pronominal form estar-se can mean “stay, remain, reside”: Avui m'estic a casa. It is not required every time estar has a place complement, but it makes continued presence especially explicit.
Estar + gerund: focused progress
Use estar + gerund when you deliberately focus on an action unfolding around the reference time. The finite estar agrees with the subject; the gerund does not.
Ara estic parlant amb la metgessa; et truco després.
I'm talking to the doctor now; I'll call you afterward.
Què esteu fent? Estem preparant el sopar.
What are you doing? We're making dinner.
Catalan uses the simple present more freely than English: Ara preparo el sopar may also mean “I'm making dinner now.” The progressive is appropriate when the ongoing phase matters, but it is not the normal way to state a habit. Say Treballo a casa cada divendres, not estic treballant..., for a regular schedule.
Weak pronouns and negation
Weak pronouns precede a finite present form. Predicate ho replaces an adjective or other predicative complement: Estàs cansada? Sí, ho estic. Locative hi replaces a place: Encara estàs a l'oficina? Sí, hi estic. With negation, the order is no + pronoun + verb: No hi estic; avui treballo des de casa.
—Esteu preparats? —Encara no ho estem; ens falten dues caixes.
—Are you ready? —We're not ready yet; we're missing two boxes.
English can answer with bare “we aren't.” Catalan normally retains the predicate through ho. This pronoun does not agree with preparats; ho is invariable.
Regional forms
The general standard forms in the main table are widely shared. (regional: Balearic) commonly uses estam and estau for first- and second-person plural where the general model has estem and esteu. (regional: Alguerese) also uses estau for the second-person plural. These forms belong to their regional systems rather than being defective versions of the general paradigm.
Other variation is more visible in pronunciation and in the range of contexts assigned to ser or estar than in the core present forms. (regional: Valencian) and some other varieties traditionally admit estar in a wider range of ordinary physical locations than the Central baseline does. Event location still uses ser: El concert és al teatre. In (formal) writing, follow the chosen regional standard consistently.
Mini-dialogue
—On és l'Ona? —Està a la biblioteca tota la tarda perquè està preparant un examen. —Està gaire nerviosa? —No, diu que ja ho té tot controlat.
—Where is Ona? —She's at the library all afternoon because she's preparing for an exam. —Is she very nervous? —No, she says she has everything under control.
The question uses neutral locative és. The answer uses està because tota la tarda creates a durative stay, then està preparant zooms in on an ongoing action.
Present, past, and mood
Present estic a casa describes the current state or stay. Periphrastic past vaig estar a casa presents a bounded completed stay: Ahir vaig estar a casa tot el dia. Do not add a between the auxiliary and infinitive: vaig a estar is not the ordinary past and often reflects Spanish future phrasing.
Mood depends on assertion. Sé que està bé asserts the state; Vull que estigui bé presents it as a wish. The conjunction que appears in both, so the governing meaning—not a trigger word by itself—chooses indicative or subjunctive.
Common Mistakes
1. Dropping the accents in the singular.
❌ Tu estas cansat i ella esta nerviosa.
Incorrect—estàs and està require grave accents.
✅ Tu estàs cansat i ella està nerviosa.
You're tired and she's nervous.
2. Using estar for the neutral location of an event.
❌ El concert està al teatre municipal.
Incorrect when this means where the event takes place.
✅ El concert és al teatre municipal.
The concert is at the municipal theater.
3. Overusing the progressive for a habit.
❌ Cada divendres estic treballant des de casa.
Unnatural for a regular weekly schedule.
✅ Cada divendres treballo des de casa.
Every Friday I work from home.
4. Copying Spanish tener que for obligation.
❌ Tinc que estar a l'aeroport a les sis.
Incorrect in standard Catalan—tenir que is a Spanish calque.
✅ He d'estar a l'aeroport a les sis.
I have to be at the airport at six.
5. Choosing the indicative after a wish.
❌ Espero que estàs millor demà.
Incorrect—the improvement is hoped for, not asserted.
✅ Espero que estiguis millor demà.
I hope you're better tomorrow.
Key Takeaways
Learn the irregular forms estic, estàs, està, estem, esteu, estan. Use estar for viewed states, results, conventional state expressions, durative or fixed locations, and focused progressive constructions. The Central baseline generally uses ser for neutral location, while Valencian and some other varieties extend locative estar further; event location uses ser. The choice follows viewpoint, lexical convention, regional norm, and assertion status—not a word-for-word English tense or a simplistic permanent/temporary test.
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- Hi in Predicative and Idiomatic ConstructionsB1 — Understand hi as a marker of manner or state and recognize the common verbs and idioms in which it has become lexicalized.