website promotion

 

PRESENTE DE INDICATIVO

 

Now there are two verbs to say(I AM, YOU ARE, WE ARE, etc.)you have to work out whether the description refers to a temporary characteristic, or a permanent characteristic,

 

PERMANENT CHARACTERISTIC

SER = TO BE

¿ es usted medico? = are you a doctor?
no, no soy medico = no I am not a doctor
¿eres de España? = are you from Spain?
si soy de España = yes I am from Spain

 

TEMPORARY CHARACTERISTIC

ESTAR = TO BE

¿como está usted? = how are you?
estoy bien gracias = I am well thank you
¿donde está el Hotel fénix? = where is the Pheonix Hotel?
el hotel fénix está al lado del hotel blanco

 

So if you think something is permanent use (SER) but if you think something is temporary use (ESTAR) you have to think for yourself, look at the next two sentences.

 

THINK FOR YOURSELF

 

EL CIELO ESTÁ AZUL = the sky is blue (but it may change colour soon)
LA PUERTA ES AZUL = the door is blue (you can paint it again but the COLOUR IS A FAIRLY PERMANENT FEATURE OF THE DOOR)

 

(Next we are going to look at the other tenses, we can not talk in the present tense all the time, we will look at how to say was (I was, you were, we were, etc.) (CLICK NEXT)