ser, estar, tener and hay

Four ways Spanish says what English says with "to be" and "to have".

English gets by with two verbs here — to be and to have — and Spanish uses four, split along lines English does not draw. This is the first wall every learner hits, and it is not a matter of vocabulary: there is nothing in your own grammar for the distinction to attach to, so it has to be installed deliberately.

The good news is that the rules are short and they are rules, not tendencies. Learn the four below and a large share of the sentences you will build in your first year stop being guesswork.

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ser vs estara1

Two verbs for "to be", and the difference is not optional

Why English speakers get this wrong. English has one verb where Spanish has two, so there is nothing in your native grammar to attach the distinction to. You have to install it.

The rule: ser = what something is. estar = how or where something is right now.

The trap is that both translate as "am". "Soy aburrido" means you are a boring person. "Estoy aburrido" means you are bored at the moment. Native speakers hear the difference the way you hear "I am cold" versus "I am cool".

Check yourself

1. ___ cansado después del trabajo. — estoyTiredness passes, so estar.
2. ___ profesor de historia. — soyA profession is what you are: ser.
3. Mi hermana ___ en Madrid ahora. — estáLocation is always estar.
4. El hielo ___ frío. — esCold is what ice is, not how it feels today.
5. La puerta ___ abierta. — estáA door being open is a state, not a nature.
6. Nosotros ___ de México. — somosWhere you are from is ser.

Things you have, not things you area1

hunger, thirst, cold, fear, age

Why English speakers get this wrong. English says "I am hungry". Spanish says "I have hunger". Translate the English and you produce "soy hambre", which is not a sentence.

The rule: tener + noun: tengo hambre, tengo frío, tengo 25 años, tengo miedo.

The give-away is that these are nouns in Spanish, not adjectives. You cannot be a hunger. And "mucho" agrees with them: tengo mucha hambre, mucho frío.

Check yourself

1. ___ mucha sed. — tengoThirst is a thing you have.
2. ¿Cuántos años ___? — tienesAge uses tener.
3. ___ frío, cierra la ventana. — tengoFeeling cold: tener.
4. ___ calor hoy en la calle. — haceWeather uses hacer, not tener.
5. Mi hijo ___ miedo de los perros. — tieneFear is had, not been.

hay, and what it is nota1

there is, there are — one word for both

Why English speakers get this wrong. English changes "there is" to "there are". Spanish does not, and learners reach for "son" or "están" instead.

The rule: hay = there is / there are, for something whose existence is being announced.

Use estar for something whose location is being given, when both you and the listener already know it exists: ¿Dónde está el baño? — El baño está allí. But: ¿Hay un baño aquí?

Check yourself

1. ___ mucha gente en la calle. — hayAnnouncing existence.
2. El libro ___ en la mesa. — estáA known book, its location.
3. ¿___ un supermercado por aquí? — hayDoes one exist?

Keep going

Reading a rule is not the same as producing it under time pressure, which is the only thing that makes it stick. Lunosia drills every point on this page, corrects what you say out loud, and brings your own mistakes back days later until you can fix them from memory.

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