Estar is the verb of circumstance. Where ser defines what something is, estar reports where it is or how it is right now. This page catalogues every major use of estar with examples drawn from everyday peninsular Spanish, plus the traps that English speakers fall into most often. By the time you finish, you should be able to look at any "to be" sentence in Spanish and know — without hesitating — whether estar is the right choice.
The unifying thread across every use below is circumstance: each construction below answers some version of where, how, or in what state is this right now? Once that pattern clicks, the individual uses stop feeling like a memorization list and start feeling like applications of one rule.
1. Physical location of people and things
The single most reliable rule in the whole ser/estar distinction: physical location of a person or thing takes estar, no matter how permanent.
Mis llaves están encima de la mesa del salón, las he dejado allí hace un momento.
My keys are on top of the table in the living room, I left them there a moment ago.
Madrid está en el centro de la Península Ibérica.
Madrid is in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula.
Yes — even the location of an entire city, mountain, or country takes estar. The Pyrenees have been between Spain and France for millions of years, but Spanish still says los Pirineos están entre España y Francia. Location is location.
The only exception is the location of an event, which takes ser: la fiesta es en mi casa ("the party is at my house"). Events take place; things sit somewhere.
2. Physical and health states
Anything about how someone's body is doing right now — well, tired, ill, hungry, hot, cold — takes estar if the construction permits a copula at all. (Many physical states use tener: tengo hambre, tengo frío.)
Estoy fatal, llevo toda la noche sin pegar ojo.
I feel terrible, I haven't slept a wink all night.
Mi abuela está bastante mejor, gracias por preguntar.
My grandmother is much better, thanks for asking.
The phrasing estar bien / mal / regular / fatal is the standard answer to ¿cómo estás?
3. Emotional states
Every emotion — happy, sad, angry, nervous, anxious, in love — is estar.
Estoy muy contento porque mañana me voy de vacaciones.
I'm really happy because tomorrow I'm going on holiday.
No estés triste, mañana será otro día.
Don't be sad, tomorrow is another day.
The temptation for English speakers is to think "I am sad" describes an identity. It does not, in Spanish. Sadness is a state that comes and goes; ser triste would mean "to be a sad person by nature," which is rare and not usually what you mean. Es muy triste lo que pasó ("what happened is very sad") works because there the adjective describes an event, not a person — but applied to a person, está triste is overwhelmingly the everyday choice.
4. Progressive tenses: estar + gerundio
To express an action in progress, Spanish uses estar + the gerundio (the -ando / -iendo form), never the bare infinitive.
Estamos comiendo, te llamo en media hora, ¿vale?
We're eating, I'll call you in half an hour, OK?
¿Qué estáis haciendo? — Estamos viendo una serie en Netflix.
What are you (all) doing? — We're watching a series on Netflix.
Peninsular Spanish uses the progressive much less than English does. Trabajo en un banco ("I work in a bank") describes habitual employment; estoy trabajando en un banco would imply a specific stint, often a temporary one. Reserve the progressive for actions genuinely in progress at the moment of speaking, not for habitual states.
The construction can appear in any tense: estaba leyendo (was reading), estaré trabajando (will be working), he estado durmiendo (have been sleeping).
5. Resultant state: estar + participle
When the past participle is used as an adjective to describe the resulting state after an action, the verb is estar, not ser. The participle agrees with the subject in gender and number.
La puerta está cerrada, pero las ventanas están abiertas.
The door is closed, but the windows are open.
Mis padres están muy preocupados por la situación.
My parents are very worried about the situation.
This contrasts with ser + participle, which is the passive of action (someone did the closing): la puerta fue cerrada por el viento ("the door was closed by the wind"). With estar, you are describing the situation now, regardless of how it got that way.
The distinction is sharp and important:
- ser + participle = action happened (passive event)
- estar + participle = result is currently visible (passive state)
6. Appearance and impression in the moment
When you comment on how someone looks right now — at this party, in this photo, today — Spanish uses estar, because you are reporting a momentary impression rather than a defining trait.
¡Qué guapa estás hoy con ese vestido!
How lovely you look today in that dress!
Estás muy moreno, ¿has estado en la playa?
You're really tanned, have you been at the beach?
Compare with ser guapa ("to be a generally good-looking person"), which describes the person's overall appearance. Eres guapa is a more general compliment; estás guapa hoy is a comment about the moment.
This usage extends to food and drink: ¡qué rico está este café! ("how delicious this coffee is!") describes the perception of this particular cup, not coffee in general.
7. Weather conditions (some)
A few weather expressions use estar: está nublado, está lloviendo, está soleado, está despejado. Most weather, though, uses hacer (hace frío, hace sol, hace viento) or simply the verb of the phenomenon (llueve, nieva).
Hoy está nublado, pero no creo que llueva.
It's cloudy today, but I don't think it'll rain.
The rule of thumb: if you can use the -ando/-iendo progressive (está lloviendo) or describe a sky condition as an adjectival state (está nublado), estar works. Otherwise default to hacer.
8. Dates and approximate location in time
A surprising use of estar in Spain: telling the date with a different feel than the ser version. Hoy estamos a 18 de mayo is the standard way of saying today's date in much of Spain (alongside hoy es 18 de mayo). The construction is estamos a + [number] de [month].
¿A cuántos estamos hoy? — Estamos a dieciocho de mayo.
What's today's date? — It's the eighteenth of May.
This is far more common in Spain than in Latin America. It belongs to a small family of estar a constructions: estamos a viernes ("it's Friday"), estamos a tres grados ("it's three degrees"), el pan está a un euro el kilo ("bread is at one euro a kilo").
9. High-frequency idioms with estar
These are everyday collocations you cannot avoid in Spain. Memorize them as units.
- estar de acuerdo → to agree: Estoy de acuerdo contigo.
- estar a punto de
- infinitive → to be about to: Estaba a punto de salir.
- estar para
- infinitive → to be in the mood for: No estoy para tonterías hoy.
- estar harto/-a de → to be fed up with: Estoy harta de esperar.
- estar al tanto / al día / al corriente → to be up to date / informed: Hay que estar al tanto de las noticias.
- estar de vacaciones / de viaje / de visita → to be on holiday / travelling / visiting
- estar de moda → to be in fashion
- estar en plan
- adj/noun (peninsular, informal) → to be in a certain mode/mood: Estamos en plan tranquilo.
- estar pez (peninsular, very informal) → to be clueless (about a topic): Estoy pez en matemáticas.
- estar como una cabra / chiflado → to be crazy (informal)
Estoy hasta las narices de las obras en la calle, no me dejan dormir.
I'm fed up to the back teeth of the roadworks on the street, they don't let me sleep.
¿Vienes a la fiesta? — Hoy estoy en plan sofá y manta, otro día.
Are you coming to the party? — Today I'm in sofa-and-blanket mode, another time.
Quick reference: when to reach for estar
| When you're talking about… | Use estar because… | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Where a person is | physical location | Estoy en casa. |
| Where a thing is | physical location | Las llaves están aquí. |
| Where a city/country is | physical location (yes, even permanent ones) | Madrid está en España. |
| How you're feeling | emotional state | Estoy triste. |
| How your body's doing | physical state | Estoy cansado. |
| An ongoing action | progressive | Estoy comiendo. |
| How something looks right now | momentary impression | Estás guapa hoy. |
| The result of an action | resultant state | Está roto. |
| Weather adjectivally | state of the sky | Está nublado. |
| Today's date (Spain) | position in time | Estamos a 18 de mayo. |
Common Mistakes
❌ Soy en Madrid esta semana.
Incorrect — location of a person always takes estar, even when temporary.
✅ Estoy en Madrid esta semana.
I'm in Madrid this week.
❌ La fiesta está en casa de Marta.
Incorrect — the location of an event takes ser. Houses, rooms, and buildings 'are' (estar) somewhere; events 'take place' (ser) somewhere.
✅ La fiesta es en casa de Marta.
The party is at Marta's house.
❌ Estoy comer cuando me llames.
Incorrect — the progressive takes the gerund (-ando/-iendo), never the infinitive.
✅ Estaré comiendo cuando me llames.
I'll be eating when you call me.
❌ Mi hijo es enfermo.
Incorrect — illness is a state, so estar. With ser, the sentence would mean 'my son is a sickly person by nature,' which is not what English 'is sick' conveys.
✅ Mi hijo está enfermo.
My son is sick.
❌ Hoy soy a 18 de mayo.
Incorrect — the construction is estamos a + date, never *soy a or *somos a.
✅ Hoy estamos a 18 de mayo.
Today is the eighteenth of May.
Key takeaways
- Estar is for location, state, condition, and circumstance — everything that can change without the underlying identity of the thing changing.
- Physical location of any person or thing always takes estar, no matter how permanent.
- Emotions, moods, and physical states (tiredness, illness, comfort) are always estar.
- The progressive tense is built with estar + gerundio, never with the infinitive.
- Estar + participle marks the resultant state; ser + participle marks the passive action that produced it.
- Spain Spanish has its own estar a + date construction and the colloquial estar en plan — both worth picking up.
- The peninsular vosotros forms (estáis, estabais, estuvisteis, estéis, estuvierais) are mandatory, with the present-tense accents (estás, está, estáis, están) and present-subjunctive accents (estés, esté, estéis, estén) required for correct spelling.
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