Ser and estar in Portuguese: identity and location

Level A1

Ser and estar in Portuguese: identity and location

Leo and Ana are students meeting at a university; their friend Marta is a little farther away, within sight. You will say who is a student and where each person is now. English uses be in both cases; Portuguese uses ser for the identification shown here and estar for the location.

Recall who is speaking

Eu means “I”, você addresses one person, and ela means “she”: here it refers to Marta. Each speaker calls themselves eu and the person they address você; these words change their reference when the speaker changes. Meu nome é… means “My name is…”: you have already met é inside this expression, even if you have not studied introductions yet. Listen to these items before using them below.

Student, here and over there

Estudante means “student”; Leo and Ana can both use the same word. Aqui is “here”, the place where the speaker is; ali points to a place away from the speaker, within sight in this scene. Ser and estar are the two verb names; you will use only sou/é and estou/está here, rather than a whole conjugation table. Listen to each word, then picture Leo and Ana together here and Marta over there.

Say who is a student: sou and é

Use sou with eu: Eu sou estudante. means “I am a student.” The audio model Sou estudante. has the same meaning; Portuguese can leave eu out when the speaker is clear. With você or ela, use é: Você é estudante. and Ela é estudante. Here sou and é are forms of ser and identify someone as a student; estudante has no word corresponding to English a in these examples. Keep estudante unchanged for Leo, Ana or Marta, and keep é with both você and ela. Listen to the three models, then say each one while pointing to yourself, your partner or Marta.

eu / você / ela sou / é estudante

Say where a person is: estou and está

To locate a person here or over there, use estar: Eu estou aqui. or the shorter Estou aqui. means “I am here.” Use está with você and ela: Você está aqui. means “You are here”, and Ela está ali. means “She is over there.” Both sou and estou can translate English am, but the information differs: Sou estudante. identifies you as a student; Estou aqui. gives your location now. This is the contrast for these examples, not a rule about everything permanent or temporary. Listen to the models and change who you point to, keeping the matching verb form.

eu / você / ela estou / está aqui / ali

Your turn: identify, then locate

Before checking the models, imagine you are Leo: say you are a student, then that you are here; tell Ana she is a student, then that she is here; say Marta is a student, then that she is over there. The six examples give model answers in that order, with ela referring to Marta. Say them, then listen and check whether you chose sou/é for student and estou/está for location. To recap, eu goes with sou or estou, while você and ela go with é or está in these sentences. You can include eu in Sou estudante. and Estou aqui.; the meaning stays the same.

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