World LanguageModern foreign languagesMiddle schoolKey Stage 3
How to teach ser vs estar
Ser tells who or what something is, and estar tells how it is right now or where it is. This page explains ser vs estar with sources, and shows a free activity where students describe a picture of their own pet and Sparky uses the picture to ask which verb fits.
Jemel Fanfan | Founding Member at Flint
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Many middle school students learn "es" first and then use it for everything, so "mi perro es cansado" looks right to them. A red mark on a worksheet tells them the verb is wrong but not why, and the next sentence repeats the mistake. The teacher finds out who still can't choose between ser and estar when the quiz comes back.
Ser vs estar: who something is, and how or where it is
Ser and estar both mean "to be." The Real Academia Española says speakers use ser for a quality that belongs to the subject or puts it in a class, and estar for a state seen as the result of a change or tied to a moment, and for where something is (RAE, Diccionario panhispánico de dudas). "Pretzel es un perro" says what Pretzel is, and "Pretzel está en el sofá" says where he is.
The rule "ser is permanent, estar is temporary" breaks on common sentences. The RAE's grammar points out that "está muerto" takes estar although death doesn't change, and that nouns take ser even for a temporary job, as in "es estudiante" (RAE, Nueva gramática, 37.7a).
Some adjectives change meaning with the verb. "Es aburrido" means boring and "está aburrido" means bored (RAE, Nueva gramática, 37.9k). "Es listo" means clever, and "está listo" means ready (RAE, Diccionario panhispánico de dudas).
In the Flint activity, each student uploads a picture of their own pet and describes it in Spanish. Unlike a ser vs estar chart, Sparky looks at that student's picture and asks whether a sentence says who the pet is or how it is right now, without writing the fix.
Sparky gets Marcus to fix his own verb from a picture of his dog
Marcus ends up correcting "es cansado" himself and explaining what es aburrido and está aburrido mean. Every student gets the same activity and greeting, and Sparky's replies depend on the picture and sentences each student sends.
Marcus
Marcus
Sparky
Marcus
ohh como esta ahora. pretzel esta cansadoSparky
Marcus
pretzel es marron y tiene un collar rojoUnderstanding check
Marcus
es aburrido is like hes bored always and esta aburrido is hes bored right now?Sparky
Marcus
ohhh es aburrido means hes boring. pretzel is NOT boring lol. pretzel esta aburrido when i dont play with himFixed es cansado himself, then told es aburrido from está aburrido
Marcus is an example student, and Sparky's replies are shortened.
What Flint did for Marcus
- When Marcus wrote "mi perro es cansado," Sparky looked at his picture and pointed out that Pretzel was asleep on the couch right now.
- Sparky asked whether the sentence said who Pretzel is or how he is, and Marcus changed es to está himself.
- When Marcus said both forms of aburrido meant bored, Sparky pointed him back to what ser describes, and he worked out "boring."
A teacher can't do this by hand for 30 students, and Sparky does it in every student's chat.
The activity page shows who still uses es for everything
While the class works, Needs attention shows the teacher which student is stuck and on which message. After three or more students submit, activity analytics lists what the class did well, where students went wrong, and a follow-up to practice next.
Example activity page
After a Spanish class describes their pets
The school and students are made up for this page.
Set up the activity for free
Open the ser vs estar activity in Flint's public library, select Use activity to copy it into a free Flint account, and assign it to a class. Students add their picture with the Add attachment(s) button under the message box, then type their sentences, so no extra setting needs to be turned on. A student without a pet can upload a drawing or a picture of an animal they like.
For more Spanish and French activities, see Flint for world language.
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