What’s in store for you today: The verb estar

Listen to Track 3.1.1

María: Hola, Lucía. ¿Cómo estás hoy? (Hello, Lucía. How are you today?)

Lucía: Estoy despistada. (I am distracted.)

María: ¿Por qué? (Why?)

Lucía: Estoy muy nerviosa porque tengo un examen mañana. (I’m nervous because I have an exam tomorrow.)

María:  ¿Estás lista para el examen? (Are you ready for the test?)

Lucía: No sé. Estoy agobiada y preocupada. (I don’t know. I am overwhelmed and worried.)

The Verb “Estar”

We’ve talked about ser and how it’s used for permanent characteristics as well as a number of other things. Well, today, we’re going to talk about the verb estar, which is used for temporary conditions (as well as a number of other things, too).

Before we dive in, though, let’s review the conjugation we’ll use for estar.

Listen to Track 3.1.2

P.L.A.C.E

Like with “ser,” we looked at an acronym to help us remember when to use estar. It was:

• Position (The dog is next to the couch.)
• Location (I am in the store.)
• Action (present progressive – we’ll get to this later.)
• Condition (I am tired.)
• Emotion (I am happy.)

Today, we’re going to work with condition and emotion. Action we will save for later. Location we’ll look at tomorrow, as well as a little bit of position.

¿Estás agobiado? (Are you overwhelmed?)

Listen to Track 3.1.3

I certainly hope you’re not feeling too agobiado right now. These last two weeks have been a lot of Spanish! Today, we’re going to keep adding to it!

Here are some common emotions/states in Spanish:

Enfadado/a– – Mad/Angry

Avergonzado/a – Embarrassed

Ocupado/a – Busy

Confundido/a – Confused

Emocionado/a – Excited

Nervioso/a – Nervous

Agobiado/a – Overwhelmed

Relajado/a – Relaxed

Cansado/a – Tired

Preocupado/a – Worried

Enfermo/a – Sick

De buen humor – In a good mood

De mal humor – In a bad mood

Tranquilo/a – Calm

Asustado/a – Scared

Despistado/a – Distracted/Lost in thought/Absent-minded

Estoy… Estás…Está…

Listen to Track 3.1.5

Let’s take a moment to talk a little bit more about conjugating verbs. Although it may seem a little overwhelming remembering all those different verb forms, the truth is, it’s an integral and useful part of Spanish.

One of the things that makes it so useful is that by conjugating the verb, we have the option to omit the subject in many cases:

Estoy en casa. (I’m at home.)

Estás de mal humor. (You’re in a bad mood.)

Estamos asustados. (We are scared.)

Our 3rd person conjugations can even drop the subject if we’re sure that everyone we’re talking to knows who exactly we’re talking about:

Mi hermano está cansado. Está enfermo. (My brother is tired. [He] is sick.)

Up until now, we’ve been keeping our subject pronouns in our sentences. This has been so that we can be sure that we learn them. But, going forward, if you’re feeling confident, go ahead and drop them if the situation allows it!