ALGUIEN HABLA ESPANOL? - Page 4

Grac Dario - lo voy a escuchar! 

Hi Lee, as I understand it Ser used to indicate permanency, as in "soy Ann Kiernan". If I said "estoy Ann McKiernan" that would indicate that I am Ann McKiernan temporarily, which would be wrong.. or if I said "I am drunk" I would use the estoy verb not the soy verb as it would be unlikely that I would be drunk permanently. So I would say "estoy borracho" not "soy borracho" - hope this helps.

Got it. Many thanks.

I'm laughing to myself because you mentioning the temporary nature of being drunk reminds me of a very famous, and very funny quote from Winston Churchill.

Look it up if you're interested. If you cant find it, I'll get it for you.

Bestw wishes..... Lee

Thanks Lee, is that the joke about Winston claiming he'd be sober tomorrow "but you,Madam, will still be ugly"? It's a brilliant one and, of course, she'd be "todavia seras feo"😉

Just to mix things up a little, there are phrases where both Ser AND Estar can be used - but the meaning changes depending on the verb

Por ejemplo:

Estoy aburrido - I am bored

Soy Aburrido - I am boring ....

Excellent point

Very confusing. Not because of the use of both verbs, but because "bored" and "boring" are the same word.

Much care needed with this. 😁

Yes madam but you will still be ugly tomorrow - replying when a lady accused Churchill of being drunk - I might have not got it 100% verbatim !

Useful words

Hay (pronunció ‘eye’) There is ir there are

Había (pronunció ‘abee-a’) there were or there was

Tuve (pronunció toobe - e as in egg) I had

Pude (pronunció poise - e as in egg) I could

One that used to confuse me some years ago was the use of the word "listo" with the verbs "estar" and "ser".

¿estás listo? = are you ready?

Eres listo      = you are clever