The other day I got a question about ter and estar com from a student again and I thought it would be a great tip to post... but I thought I should back up to a quick look at the use ser and estar for early beginners first.
Just as a quick reminder*, here is the conjugation for the verbs ser and estar in casual spoken Portuguese:
Eu sou
Você/ele/ela/a gente é
Nós somos
Vocês/eles/elas são
Eu estou or tô (common pronunciation in very casual speech)
Você/ele/ela/a gente está or tá
Nós estamos or tamos
Vocês/eles/elas estão or tão
Ser and estar can be most often translated as the verb be in English... Since there is is one word in English for two in Portuguese, no wonder English speaking learners get confused!
Similar to what happens in Spanish, the main idea (it works for most of the cases) is that ser is for intrinsic, somewhat permanent caracteristics, whereas estar is for temporary passing things. I have translated them roughly like that in the following examples, in case that helps (just to get the idea, in reality things are a little more subtle):
Meu nome é Ananda.
My name is (permanently/always) Ananda.
Eu sou brasileira.
I am (permanently/always) Brazilian.
Ele é casado.
He is is (somewhat permanently) married.
(note that in Spanish they use estar here... hmmm :-))
Eles estão cansandos.
They are (temporarily) tired. or They are tired (right now).
A Susan está na academia.
Susan is (temporarily) at the gym. or Susan is at the gym (right now).
The difference between the two is sometimes jokingly used by Brazilians:
Joana: Nossa Maria! Você está bonita!
Wow Maria! You are beautiful!
Maria: Eu não ESTOU bonita, eu SOU bonita.
I am not (temporarily) beautiful, I am (permanently/always) beautiful.
So this is the main idea on ser and estar. When you feel that you have enough practice on this or if this is all old news to you, come back for a post on ter versus estar com.
*Note: If you haven't learnt anything about the verbs ser or estar before, I recommend learning them in a more natural setting, such as part of a conversation first, rather than going straight for the grammar. This post is intended to those who have at least heard these verbs enough to get confused :-).
Just as a quick reminder*, here is the conjugation for the verbs ser and estar in casual spoken Portuguese:
Eu sou
Você/ele/ela/a gente é
Nós somos
Vocês/eles/elas são
Eu estou or tô (common pronunciation in very casual speech)
Você/ele/ela/a gente está or tá
Nós estamos or tamos
Vocês/eles/elas estão or tão
Ser and estar can be most often translated as the verb be in English... Since there is is one word in English for two in Portuguese, no wonder English speaking learners get confused!
Similar to what happens in Spanish, the main idea (it works for most of the cases) is that ser is for intrinsic, somewhat permanent caracteristics, whereas estar is for temporary passing things. I have translated them roughly like that in the following examples, in case that helps (just to get the idea, in reality things are a little more subtle):
Meu nome é Ananda.
My name is (permanently/always) Ananda.
Eu sou brasileira.
I am (permanently/always) Brazilian.
Ele é casado.
He is is (somewhat permanently) married.
(note that in Spanish they use estar here... hmmm :-))
Eles estão cansandos.
They are (temporarily) tired. or They are tired (right now).
A Susan está na academia.
Susan is (temporarily) at the gym. or Susan is at the gym (right now).
The difference between the two is sometimes jokingly used by Brazilians:
Joana: Nossa Maria! Você está bonita!
Wow Maria! You are beautiful!
Maria: Eu não ESTOU bonita, eu SOU bonita.
I am not (temporarily) beautiful, I am (permanently/always) beautiful.
So this is the main idea on ser and estar. When you feel that you have enough practice on this or if this is all old news to you, come back for a post on ter versus estar com.
*Note: If you haven't learnt anything about the verbs ser or estar before, I recommend learning them in a more natural setting, such as part of a conversation first, rather than going straight for the grammar. This post is intended to those who have at least heard these verbs enough to get confused :-).
Voce esta inteligente
ReplyDeleteMuito obrigada! :-) (I would have prefered 'você é inteligente', which would mean that I am an intelligent person (always)... but just being intelligent right now is also good :-)).)
ReplyDeleteEi, pelo amor de Deus. Ensine os americanos a falar somente "estou" "estamos". Eu e você somos irmãos de certa forma uma vez que compartilhamos a mesma língua, então, se você a ama ensine-os a falá-la corretamente..não quero dizer que está ensinando errado, mas faça-os priorizar a forma correta.
ReplyDeleteUma coisa interessante: ensine-os o tempo futuro simples sem conjunção verbal (ir+verb), é mais difícil mas é a forma mais bonita que há.
Vlw!
Oi Anônimo!
ReplyDeleteObrigada pelo comentário. Tenho que dizer que, como linguísta, eu discordo. Valorizo muito a forma como as pessoas falam de verdade, não só a forma culta. Não tenho intenção de dar prioridade à forma culta our 'correta' como você disse (e também não dou prioridade na minha própria fala). Se eu fosse dar prioridade à akguma coisa, daria à forma falada. Sempre ensino 'tá', além de 'está' porque é uma parte muito prevalente da língua no Brasil (e eu uso muito!) e informo os alunos sobre os padrões formal e informal. Aqui no meu blog, vai sempre ter muito da língua falada.
...E eu sempre ensino o futuro analítico (ir + verbo) primeiro (e continuarei assim), porque, além de ser mais fácil, é muito mais comum no Brasil.
ReplyDeleteThank you. A great help. I am taking a beginner's course in Portugese in Iceland, and help in Icelandic is almost none.
ReplyDelete