estar conjugation
Estar is regular in most tenses and completely irregular in one: the present is estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están. Use estar for location, temporary states, mood, and the result of a change — está en casa, está cansado, está lloviendo. Use ser for identity and permanent qualities.
- Red pencil is the one tense to learn by heart. Graphite is everything that follows the -ar pattern.
estar — to be (state, location). Estoy. The other half of Spanish's two verbs for "to be".
Present indicative
| Pronoun | estar | Say |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estoy | ehs-TOY |
| tú | estás | ehs-TAHS |
| él / ella / usted | está | ehs-TAH |
| nosotros | estamos | ehs-TAH-mohs |
| vosotros | estáis | ehs-TAH-ees |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | están | ehs-TAHN |
The present is the irregular part. Everywhere else, estar conjugates exactly like a regular -ar verb.
Preterite
| Pronoun | estar | Say |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estuve | ehs-TOO-veh |
| tú | estuviste | ehs-too-VEES-teh |
| él / ella / usted | estuvo | ehs-TOO-voh |
| nosotros | estuvimos | ehs-too-VEE-mohs |
| vosotros | estuvisteis | ehs-too-vees-TAY-ees |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | estuvieron | ehs-too-VEE-ROHN |
Imperfect
| Pronoun | estar | Say |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estaba | ehs-TAH-bah |
| tú | estabas | ehs-TAH-bahs |
| él / ella / usted | estaba | ehs-TAH-bah |
| nosotros | estábamos | ehs-TAH-bah-mohs |
| vosotros | estabais | ehs-TAH-bah-ees |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | estaban | ehs-TAH-bahn |
Future and conditional
| Pronoun | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|
| yo | estaré | estaría |
| tú | estarás | estarías |
| él / ella / usted | estará | estaría |
| nosotros | estaremos | estaríamos |
| vosotros | estaréis | estaríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | estarán | estarían |
Subjunctive
| Pronoun | Present subj. | Imperfect subj. |
|---|---|---|
| yo | esté | estuviera |
| tú | estés | estuvieras |
| él / ella / usted | esté | estuviera |
| nosotros | estemos | estuviéramos |
| vosotros | estéis | estuvierais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | estén | estuvieran |
Imperative
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tú | está | no estés |
| usted | esté | no esté |
| nosotros | estémos | no estemos |
| vosotros | estén | no estéis |
| ustedes | estén | no estén |
ser or estar?
The short version: ser is for what something is, estar is for what something is like right now and where it is. Soy profesor (I am a teacher) but estoy cansado (I am tired). El hotel está cerca (the hotel is nearby) but el hotel es barato (the hotel is cheap).
Two cases where estar means the opposite of what you'd guess. Location always takes estar: Mi casa está en Boston — never es en Boston. And the result of a change takes estar: La puerta está abierta (the door is open — someone opened it) versus La puerta es abierta (the door is an open door, by design).
This is also how estar forms the progressive tense: estoy hablando (I'm speaking), estoy comiendo (I'm eating), estoy leyendo (I'm reading). The gerund never stands alone in Spanish.
- Reading a word once is not remembering it. A verb you look up today is gone tomorrow. A verb that comes back to you — in a sentence you'd read anyway, on the day you'd have forgotten it — is yours.
- No streak, no guilt. Kin tracks one number: how many words are in reach today. It goes down honestly when you drift and comes back when you return.
Questions
When do I use estar instead of ser?
For location, for temporary states and moods, for the result of a change, and for weather. If the thing could be different tomorrow, it's probably estar. Está en casa (at home now), está cansado (tired right now), está lloviendo (it's raining).
What is estar gerund?
It doesn't exist. Spanish has no separate gerund form — the gerund endings are used for the progressive tenses (estoy leyendo) and for the estar + gerund construction, but you never say estoy leyendo without the estar in front. What English does with "to be" + "-ing", Spanish does with estar + gerund, always.
Is estar ever irregular beyond the present?
Only the present is irregular: estoy, estás, está, estamos, estáis, están. The preterite (estuve, estuviste, estuvo) and imperfect (estaba) have their own irregular stems, which is normal for the very common verbs, but the endings follow the regular -ar pattern from then on.
Keep going
- ser conjugationThe full conjugation of the Spanish verb ser: present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive and imperative, with the irregular forms and when to use ser instead of estar. Free, no sign-up.
- Spanish verb conjugationsSpanish verb conjugations for the most common verbs, in every tense: present, preterite, imperfect, future, conditional, subjunctive and imperfect subjunctive, with irregular forms and usage notes. Free, no sign-up.
- How long does it really take to learn Spanish?Realistic numbers for how long it takes an English speaker to learn Spanish, level by level, from the Foreign Service Institute and CEFR estimates, and what actually makes the hours count.