Estar: conjugation, and the four things it is for
Estar is the Spanish "to be" used for emotions, physical conditions, how something looks or tastes right now, and location. Its present tense is estoy, estás, está, estamos, están. Anything about where something is, or what state it is currently in, takes estar rather than ser.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
The conjugation
| Pronoun | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estoy | estoy feliz |
| tú | estás | ¿estás en casa? |
| usted / él / ella | está | está cansada |
| nosotros / nosotras | estamos | estamos en casa |
| ustedes / ellos / ellas | están | ¿están en Perú? |
Watch the written accents. Every form except estamos carries one, and they are not optional — they mark where the stress falls, and the stress is the difference between esta (this) and está (is).
The four jobs
1. Emotions. Yo estoy feliz. Estoy preocupado. ¿Estás aburrido? No estoy cansado.
2. Physical condition. Estoy enfermo. El café está frío.
3. How something seems right now — appearance, taste, the state you are finding it in. El pastel está bonito. La sopa está rica. El pastel no está feo.
4. Location. Every location, without exception, for people and things alike. Nosotros estamos en casa. ¿Dónde está la farmacia? No estamos en Perú.
That fourth one is the easiest rule in the whole language: if the sentence says where something is, the verb is estar. No judgement call, no exceptions worth your time at A1.
The three sentence shapes
Identical to ser, which is the point of learning them together.
- Affirmative: Estoy feliz. Nosotros estamos aburridos.
- Negative: Yo no estoy en casa. No estamos en Perú.
- Question: ¿Estás en casa? ¿Ustedes están en Perú?
Estar in Lima
A large share of everyday Peruvian expressions are built on estar, because they describe a state you are in right now.
- Estoy misio — I’m broke. Temporary by definition, which is exactly why it takes estar.
- Estoy palteado — I’m embarrassed, or rattled. Agrees like any adjective: palteada, palteados.
- Está chévere — it’s great. Compare es chévere, which claims the thing is great by nature rather than right now.
- Estoy en el jato — I’m at home. Location, so estar.
Next
You now have both verbs. The next lesson is the one that actually decides whether your Spanish sounds native, because English gives you no help at all with the choice.
→ Ser vs estar: the rule that actually works
Topics Ser and estarThe presentLima slang
Estar, and the four things it covers
Eight questions on the forms of *estar*, the accents that come with them, and the Peruvian expressions built on it.
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1*¿Dónde ___ la farmacia?*
Answer
está — Location always takes *estar*. This is the easiest rule in the language — if the sentence says where something is, the verb is *estar*.
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2*Nosotros ___ en casa.*
Answer
estamos — *Estamos* for *nosotros*, and *estar* because the sentence gives a location. *Somos en casa* is the error to watch for.
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3Which form of *estar* carries no written accent?
Answer
estamos — Every form except *estamos* takes one, and they are not optional. *Estamos* is already stressed where the rule wants it.
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4*Esta* and *está* differ in:
Answer
meaning — *esta* is *this* and *está* is *is* — The accent marks where the stress falls, and here the stress is the whole difference between a demonstrative and a verb. *Esta casa está sucia* uses both.
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5*El café ___ frío.*
Answer
está — A physical condition of this particular coffee, right now, so *estar*. *El café es frío* would claim coffee is a cold kind of drink.
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6Why does *estoy misio* — I'm broke — take *estar*?
Answer
because being broke is a state you are in right now, not what you are — It is a state, and temporary by definition, which is exactly the *estar* case. *Estoy palteado* works the same way and agrees like any adjective: *palteada*, *palteados*.
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7*Está chévere* and *es chévere* differ how?
Answer
*está chévere* is about right now and *es chévere* claims it is great by nature — *Estar* reports the state you are finding it in; *ser* names what it is. Both are correct sentences — they just say different things.
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8Which of *estar*'s four jobs involves no judgement call at all?
Answer
location — if the sentence says where something is, it is *estar* — Every location, for people and things alike, without exception. The other three can shade into *ser* territory; location never does.