Complete Spanish

Track 33

1. Three kinds of adjective Overview

Sorting them this way makes the whole business manageable.

Some adjectives go exclusively with estar.
Some go exclusively with ser.
Some go with either and change meaning depending on which you pick.

Aburrido is in the third group: bored as a state, boring as a characteristic.

2. listo: ready or smart Vocabulary

A clean example of the third group, where the meaning shift is total rather than a shade.

estoy listo

I am ready

soy listo

I am smart

Estamos listos · Estamos listas · Es listo · Es lista · Eres muy lista

Keep the agreement consistent: nosotras estamos listas or nosotros estamos listos. Mixing them is a contradiction.

3. bueno, with people Vocabulary

Bueno is good, and you can see the o of French bon splitting into ue. With people, the verb changes the meaning in most dialects.

es bueno

he is a good person, or good at something

está bueno

he is attractive, in good form

Son buenos

Talking about things rather than people, es bueno against está bueno is a small change in feeling that depends heavily on dialect, so just listen for it.

4. tan, and feliz Vocabulary

tan
so

feliz
happy

felicidad
happiness

Two hooks for feliz: feliz navidad, and English felicity, which gives felicidad by the -idad rule.

Estoy tan cansado · Estoy tan aburrido · Está tan aburrido · Es tan aburrido · Estoy feliz · Soy feliz · Soy una persona feliz

Feliz takes either verb, and again there is no way to know that in advance other than by listening. If you are unsure, soy una persona feliz is also perfectly correct Spanish.

5. It depends on the word, not the meaning Heads-up

Whether an adjective is flexible enough to take both verbs depends on the adjective itself, on the word, rather than on its meaning. That is why you cannot reason your way to it.

With that uncertainty, the persona route always gets you the meaning safely. It is not a compromise: it is perfect Spanish.

6. What the distinction gives you Concept

The recommended way to get on top of ser and estar is to listen actively: notice how people use them, and draw your own conclusions as to why, working from the base of state and characteristic.

Do not see it as an obstacle, as though every to be now costs you a decision. Look at what it offers. Once you have it, you will probably feel it missing in English: there will be times you want to clarify es rather than estar and simply cannot. Spanish gives you a tool for relating to reality that English does not, and that is one of the most fascinating things about learning a language.

Quiero saber cómo está (how he is doing) · Quiero saber cómo es (what he is like)