Download The Verb Estar

The Verb Estar
Conjugate the following forms of the verb estar (to be).
Yo
Nosotros
Tú
Vosotros
Él/Ella/Uds.
Ello/as/Uds.
A. To talk about how people are feeling, use the verb estar (to be).
-
¿Cómo estás?
Estoy muy bien, gracias.
-
How are you?
I’m fine, thanks.
-
¿Cómo están tus padres?
Mi mamá está bien, pero mi papá
está un poco cansado.
-
How are your parents?
My mom is fine, but my dad’s a bit
tired.
B. Here are some adjectives often used with estar to express feelings.
aburrido/a
alegre
cansado/a
contento/a
de buen humor
de mal humor
deprimido/a
desilusionado
enamorado/a
encantado/a
enfermo/a
enojado/a
-
¿Cómo está Juana?
Está ocupada.
¿Y Paco y Roberto?
Están cansados.
entusiasmado/a
furioso/a
irritable
listo/a
nervioso/a
ocupado/a
preocupado/a
seguro/a
tranquilo/a
triste
-
How is Juana?
She’s busy.
And Paco and Roberto?
They’re tired.
Review of the Present Progressive
A. To describe in Spanish an action that is taking place as you speak, use the present progressive (presente
progresivo). To do so, use the form of estar (to be) that agrees with the subject + a present participle
(gerundio).
-
¿Qué está haciendo Chela?
Está mirando la televisión.
-
What is Chela doing?
She’s watching television.
B. In Spanish, the present progressive describes an action that is occurring right now. To describe actions
going on in the general present, use the present tense. Compare these sentences.
-
Patricia está escribiendo una carta.
Stephen King escribe otra novela.
-
Patricia is writing a letter. (Right now.)
Stephen King is writing another novel. (This
year.)
C. To form a present participle, drop the ending (-ar, -er, -ir) from the infinitive, and add –ando to the
stem of –ar verbs or –iendo to the stem of –er or –ir verbs. This is the equivalent of the –ing form of a
verb in English.
jugar
comer
escribir
(jug + ando)
(com + iendo)
(escrib + iendo)
jugando
comiendo
escribiendo
playing
eating
writing
D. If the stem of an –er or –ir verb ends in a vowel, -iendo changes to –yendo.
leer
traer
oír
leyendo
trayendo
oyendo
reading
brining
hearing
As you know, there are “verbos radicales” or “shoe verbs” in Spanish, which means that the stem vowel
of some –ir verbs changes from e to i or from o to u. These stem changes also occur in the present
participle.
decir
divertirse
pedir
servir
dormir
morir
-
diciendo
divirtiéndose
pidiendo
sirviendo
durmiendo
muriendo
¿Estás durmiendo?
No, estoy leyendo en la cama.
saying
enjoying oneself
asking for
serving
sleeping
dying
-
Are you sleeping?
No, I’m reading in bed.