Estar for States, Conditions, and Feelings | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

Estar is the Portuguese verb for how something is right now, as opposed to what something fundamentally is. If the state could change in the next hour, the next day, or the next season, it almost certainly belongs to estar. Feeling tired, being hungry, a hot coffee, a cold morning, a worried parent — all of these are estar territory. The verb carries the idea that something has arrived at a state, and could just as easily leave it again. The word itself comes from Latin stāre, "to stand," and the metaphor is apt: estar describes how someone is currently standing in the world.

This page covers the four main uses: physical states, emotional states, weather, and conditions of things. It also introduces one of the most important patterns in European Portuguese — estar com (literally "to be with") — which is how Portuguese expresses hunger, thirst, sleepiness, cold, and fear. This pattern is a classic transfer trap for English speakers and deserves close attention.

Estar in the present: the paradigm

Estar is irregular, and the stressed forms all carry a written accent on the final syllable. Forgetting these accents turns the verb into something else entirely (see the common mistakes below).

Person	Form	English
eu	estou	I am
tu	estás	you are
ele / ela / você	está	he/she is; you are
nós	estamos	we are
eles / elas / vocês	estão	they are; you all are

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In natural European Portuguese speech, estou is often pronounced and even written informally as tou (and estás as tás). You will hear Tou bem, e tu? everywhere. Keep the full forms in writing, but know that the reduced forms are standard in conversation.

Physical states

Use estar for how someone's body is feeling right now — tiredness, illness, pain, being cold or warm.

Estou cansado — trabalhei até à meia-noite.

I'm tired — I worked until midnight.

Estás doente? Tens um ar muito pálido.

Are you sick? You look really pale.

A minha mãe está melhor, mas ainda está um pouco fraca.

My mother is better, but she's still a bit weak.

Não vou ao ginásio hoje, estou com dores nas costas.

I'm not going to the gym today, my back is hurting.

The ser / estar contrast with health and physique

The same adjective can go with either verb and the meaning flips. With ser, you are describing the person's nature; with estar, a present condition.

With ser (character / defining trait)	With estar (temporary state)
Ele é magro. He's thin (built slim).	Ele está magro. He's looking thin (he's lost weight).
Ela é pálida. She's pale-skinned.	Ela está pálida. She's gone pale (right now).
O avô é forte. Grandpa is strong (built that way).	O avô está forte. Grandpa is holding up well (given the circumstances).

Emotional states

Feelings almost always take estar. They come and go by nature, which is exactly what estar is for.

Está triste porque a namorada foi para o Porto.

He's sad because his girlfriend went to Porto.

Estamos felizes por ti — a sério!

We're happy for you — seriously!

A minha filha está nervosa por causa do exame de condução.

My daughter is nervous about the driving test.

Estou farto desta chuva toda.

I'm fed up with all this rain.

When ser does show up with emotion words

There is one important exception to the "emotions take estar" rule. When you use an emotion adjective to describe someone's character rather than their current mood, Portuguese uses ser.

Ele é triste — nunca o vi rir.

He's a melancholy person — I've never seen him laugh.

Ele está triste porque perdeu o emprego.

He's sad because he lost his job.

A minha avó é uma pessoa alegre.

My grandma is a cheerful person.

A minha avó está alegre hoje — ganhou a lotaria.

My grandma is in a cheerful mood today — she won the lottery.

The distinction is not about how long the feeling lasts. It is about whether you are describing the person (ser) or the moment (estar).

Weather

Weather in Portuguese uses estar in the third person singular, with either an adjective or a noun phrase.

Está frio lá fora — leva um casaco.

It's cold outside — take a coat.

Está um dia lindo, vamos à praia?

It's a beautiful day, shall we go to the beach?

Está a chover desde ontem à noite.

It's been raining since last night.

No verão, está sempre muito calor em Évora.

In summer, it's always really hot in Évora.

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Portuguese speakers often describe weather with the estar a + infinitive progressive: Está a nevar (It's snowing), Está a trovejar (It's thundering). This is the standard European Portuguese pattern — Brazilian speakers say Está nevando instead.

Note that fazer is also used for weather: Faz frio, Faz calor. In Portugal, estar is the more common choice in everyday speech (está frio, está calor), while fazer is slightly more generic or book-ish.

Conditions of things

For the current state of an object — hot, cold, open, closed, dirty, clean, broken, ready — use estar.

A água está morna, não está quente o suficiente para o chá.

The water is lukewarm, it's not hot enough for tea.

O café está frio outra vez — esqueci-me dele.

The coffee is cold again — I forgot about it.

A porta está aberta, podes entrar.

The door is open, you can come in.

O meu telemóvel está sem bateria.

My phone is out of battery.

O jantar já está pronto — venham à mesa.

Dinner is ready — come to the table.

Estar com: the "to be with" pattern

Here is a pattern that has no English equivalent and catches out almost every learner. In Portuguese, many physical and emotional feelings are expressed as estar com + noun — literally "to be with X." English uses adjectives for the same meanings.

Portuguese	Literally	English
Estou com fome.	I am with hunger.	I'm hungry.
Estou com sede.	I am with thirst.	I'm thirsty.
Estou com sono.	I am with sleep.	I'm sleepy.
Estou com frio.	I am with cold.	I'm cold.
Estou com calor.	I am with heat.	I'm hot / warm.
Estou com medo.	I am with fear.	I'm scared.
Estou com pressa.	I am with haste.	I'm in a hurry.
Estou com saudades.	I am with longing.	I miss (you / something).
Estou com dores de cabeça.	I am with head pains.	I have a headache.

Estou com fome — vamos comer qualquer coisa?

I'm hungry — shall we grab something to eat?

Os miúdos estão com sono, é melhor irmos para casa.

The kids are sleepy, we'd better head home.

Estou com saudades da minha família.

I miss my family.

Não te aproximes, o cão está com medo de estranhos.

Don't get close, the dog is afraid of strangers.

The ter alternative

For hunger, thirst, sleep, cold, heat, and fear, European Portuguese equally accepts ter ("to have") + the same noun. In fact, in neutral European Portuguese, ter fome, ter sede, ter sono, ter frio, ter calor, and ter medo are slightly more common than the estar com variants, and they are the default in formal writing.

Tenho fome.

I'm hungry. (literally: I have hunger)

A criança tinha muito medo do escuro.

The child was very afraid of the dark.

Temos sede — há água gelada no frigorífico?

We're thirsty — is there cold water in the fridge?

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Estar com emphasizes that the feeling is happening right now. Ter is neutral — it can describe a recurring or general feeling. Tenho sempre fome à tarde (I'm always hungry in the afternoon) uses ter because it's a habit. Estou com fome (I'm hungry right now) is the immediate moment. Both are natural European Portuguese.

Common mistakes

1. Translating "I am hungry" word-for-word as Sou com fome or Estou faminto.

This is the single most common English-to-Portuguese transfer error. English says I am hungry; Portuguese says I have hunger or I am with hunger.

❌ Eu sou com fome.

Incorrect — never ser + com for states.

❌ Sou faminto.

Incorrect — technically grammatical, but means 'I am a famished person by nature,' not 'I'm hungry now.'

✅ Tenho fome.

I'm hungry.

✅ Estou com fome.

I'm hungry (right now).

2. Using ser for emotions and physical states.

❌ Eu sou cansado.

Incorrect (unless you mean 'I am a tiresome person' — very awkward).

✅ Estou cansado.

I'm tired.

❌ Ela é feliz porque passou no exame.

Incorrect — a specific cause means a temporary feeling, so estar is needed.

✅ Ela está feliz porque passou no exame.

She's happy because she passed the exam.

3. Dropping the written accent on está, estás, or estão.

Without the accent, esta is a demonstrative adjective meaning "this" — a completely different word. Esta casa means "this house"; está casa would be a scrambled fragment with no subject.

❌ Esta frio hoje.

Incorrect — this spells 'this cold,' not 'it's cold.'

✅ Está frio hoje.

It's cold today.

4. Using the Brazilian gerund for the progressive.

In European Portuguese, the progressive is estar a + infinitive, not estar + gerund.

❌ Está chovendo.

Brazilian form — sounds foreign in Portugal.

✅ Está a chover.

It's raining.

5. Saying estou calor or estou frio without com.

When talking about your own body's feeling of heat or cold, you need either estar com or ter. Estou frio literally means "I am cold (to the touch)" — a description of your body temperature as perceived by someone touching you, which is not usually what you mean.

❌ Estou frio.

Incorrect if you mean you feel cold — it sounds like you're describing your own temperature from outside.

✅ Estou com frio.

I'm cold (I feel cold).

✅ Tenho frio.

I'm cold.

A água está fria.

The water is cold. (external description — correct with estar alone)

Key takeaways

Estar covers physical states, emotional states, weather, and the condition of things. If it could change soon, it takes estar.
For hunger, thirst, sleep, cold, heat, fear, hurry, longing, and similar feelings, Portuguese uses estar com
- noun or ter
  - noun — not a simple adjective. This is the single biggest transfer trap for English speakers.
Emotion adjectives with ser describe the person's character; with estar, the mood of the moment. Ele é triste = "he's a sad person"; ele está triste = "he's sad right now."
In European Portuguese, the progressive is always estar a + infinitive (está a chover), never the Brazilian está chovendo.
The written accents on estás, está, and estão are not optional — leaving them out turns the verb into a demonstrative.