Spanish grammar lessons › Level A2 › Ser vs estar

Adjectives that change meaning with ser and estar

ser listo (clever) or estar listo (ready); ser aburrido (boring) or estar aburrido (bored).

Part of the free A2 Spanish course. Press the speaker next to an example to hear it.

You know the basic contrast from Ser or estar: the core contrast: ser describes what something is like (identity, character, permanent qualities) and estar describes a state or condition (how something is at the moment, or the result of a change). With most adjectives the difference is small. With a group of common adjectives, it changes the meaning of the word itself, so choosing the wrong verb says something quite different.

The key pairs

Adjective	with ser	with estar
listo	clever	ready
aburrido	boring	bored
malo	bad, nasty	ill (Spain), gone off (food)
bueno	good, kind	tasty (food)
rico	rich	tasty, delicious
verde	green	unripe, inexperienced
seguro	safe	sure, certain
vivo	lively, sharp	alive

Listo, aburrido

Tu hermana es muy lista.Your sister is very clever.
¿Estás listo? Nos vamos.Are you ready? We're leaving.
Esta película es aburrida.This film is boring.
Los niños están aburridos.The children are bored.

Soy aburrido means "I'm a boring person". If you mean you have nothing to do, say Estoy aburrido (or aburrida).

Malo, bueno, rico

Ese perro es malo y muerde.That dog is nasty and bites.
Hoy no voy a trabajar porque estoy malo.I'm not going to work today because I'm ill.
Mi tío es rico.My uncle is rich.
La paella está muy rica.The paella is very tasty.

With food, estar bueno / estar rico is about how it tastes right now; ser bueno is about quality in general (El aceite de esta zona es muy bueno).

Careful: estar bueno said about a person means "to be physically attractive" in colloquial Spanish. It can sound crude, so avoid it unless you mean it.

Verde, seguro, vivo

Estos plátanos todavía están verdes.These bananas are still unripe.
Este barrio es seguro.This neighbourhood is safe.
No estoy seguro.I'm not sure.
Mi abuelo todavía está vivo.My grandfather is still alive.
Es una niña muy viva.She's a very bright, lively girl.

Note that estar vivo and estar muerto use estar even though being dead is permanent: Spanish treats them as states.

Latin America

The pairs work the same way. To say "ill", estar enfermo is understood everywhere and is the usual choice in Latin America; estar malo for "ill" is typical of Spain. In many countries estar rico is the everyday word for tasty food, as in Spain.

Common mistakes

~~Soy aburrido~~ when you mean "I'm bored": you've just called yourself boring. Say Estoy aburrido/a.
~~Estoy listo~~ to mean "I'm clever": that means "I'm ready". Clever is ser listo.
~~Es malo~~ to say someone is ill: that means he's a bad person. Say está malo (Spain) or está enfermo.
~~Soy seguro~~ for "I'm sure": say Estoy seguro/a.
Using estar bueno/a about a person without knowing what it means.

Practice

Pablo saca siempre buenas notas. _____ muy listo.
Pablo always gets good grades. He's very clever.
Options: Es · Está · Estás · Son
Show the answer
Es — Ser listo = clever (a quality). Estar listo = ready.
La cena _____ lista. ¡A la mesa!
Dinner is ready. Come and sit down!
Options: está · es · son · están
Show the answer
está — Estar listo = ready.
Este libro _____ (ser/estar) muy aburrido, no pasa nada.
This book is very boring, nothing happens.
Show the answer
es — Boring is a quality of the book: ser.
No hay nada que hacer y los chicos _____ (ser/estar) aburridos.
There's nothing to do and the boys are bored.
Show the answer
están — Bored is a state: estar.

In the app, this lesson is taught one idea at a time with the examples read aloud, followed by questions that explain the rule when you get one wrong. It then comes back for review on later days, until you've answered it correctly on three separate days.

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