GRAMMAR:
Ser vs. estar
a. Whereas ser is used to indicate an attribute or an inherent quality that is not likely to change, estar is used to indicate a condition which is likely to change.
 |
Este río es muy ancho. | This river is very wide. |
| Hoy el agua del río está caliente. | Today the river’s water is warm. |
b. Ser is often used to express the norm and estar, on the other hand, expresses a departure from that norm.
|
Mario es una persona tranquila pero hoy está muy molesto. | Mario is a calm person but today he is very upset. |
The principle uses of ser
a. Ser is used to signify equivalence or identity between two elements of a sentence:
|
Alberto es doctor. Alberto = doctor. |
Alberto is a doctor. |
| María es una buena persona. María = buena persona. |
Maria is a good person. | |
| Ramón es colombiano. Ramón = colombiano. |
Ramon is Colombian. |
b. Origin: ser + de + country
|
Diego es de Perú. | Diego is from Peru. |
| Este tapete es de México. | This rug is from Mexico. |
c. possession
|
Esa bicicleta es de Gustavo. | That bike is Gustavo’s. |
| Las llaves son de Julio. | Those keys are Julio’s. |
d. time
|
Son las dos. | It’s two. |
| Es la una y media. | It’s one thirty. |
e. dates
|
Hoy es el cuarto de junio. | Today is the fourth of June. |
| Es jueves. | It’s Thursday. |
The principle uses of estar
a. location of an object
|
La escuela esta al lado del correo. | The school is next to the post office. |
b. to express the present progressive
|
Estoy escribiendo. | I am writing. |
| Juan está escuchando. | Juan is listening. |
c. resultant condition: estar + past participle
|
Estoy cansado. | I am tired. |
| Estamos despiertos. | We are awake. |
PHRASES:
| Les piden muchos documentos a las personas que quieren obtener el pasaporte. | People that want to obtain a passport are asked for many documents. |
| Mi prima le ha pedido a su novio que le dé fecha para la boda. | My cousin has asked her boyfriend to give her a date for their wedding. |
| En Guatemala, muchas personas han llenado muchas solicitudes para ir a trabajar a Canadá. | In Guatemala many people have filled out a lot of applications to go work in Canada. |
| Después de escribirles los datos generales en los formularios a los conferencistas, los traductores han tomado un descanso. | After writing down general information for the conference leaders, the translators have taken a rest. |
| Algunas personas han solicitado la doble nacionalidad. | Some people have applied for double nationality. |
| Me han advertido que esos trámites toman mucho tiempo. | They have told me that those proceedings take a lot of time. |
| Les han pedido muchos requisitos a los aspirantes del puesto. | They’ve asked the position’s applicants for many requirements. |
| ¿Toma mucho tiempo tramitar la visa? | Does it take a long time to process the visa? |
| A mi madre no le ha tomado tanto tiempo, ella ha corrido con suerte. | It hasn’t taken my mother that much time, she’s been lucky. |
| Nunca nos han revisado la firma a la hora de usar la tarjeta de crédito. | They’ve never checked the signature when we use our credit card. |
VOCABULARY:
| datos generales (m) | general information | |
| documento (m) | document | |
| edad (f) | age | |
| fecha (f) | date | |
| firma (s) | signature |
| nacionalidad (f) | nationality | |
| nombre (m) | name | |
| ocupación (f) | occupation | |
| pasaporte (m) | passport | |
| solicitud (f) | application |
