KS3 · Spanish · Year 8
People: 'ser' and 'estar' singular persons
People and places: 'ser' and 'estar'
Learn it. Recall it. Make it stick.
IllumED Slides
IllumED · 1/9
Your learning goal
I can talk about people's traits and states using 'ser' and 'estar'.
1 of 9
People: 'ser' and 'estar' singular persons: slides adapted from the imported teaching text; recall questions created from its keywords, learning points and common mistakes. Self-check practice, with no automatic grading or XP. Answers stay on this page and are cleared when you leave.
Original teaching resources
The original illustrated PowerPoint is available as well as the IllumED text slides. It retains the publisher’s design and credits.
Download original PowerPoint ↓What you’ll learn
I can talk about people's traits and states using 'ser' and 'estar'.
Key learning points
- The weak vowel [u] when next to [a], [e] and [o] becomes a single syllable.
- The verb 'ser' means 'to, be, being' and it is used to describe permanent traits.
- The verb 'estar' means 'to, be, being' and it is used to describe temporary states/moods.
- Adjectives like 'listo' and 'malo' have different meanings depending on which verb is used: 'ser' or 'estar'.
Words to know
- weak vowel
- vowel that is not strong or dominant in pronunciation, e.g. the letter [u]
- ser
- verb 'to be, being' used to describe permanent traits
- estar
- verb 'to be, being' used to describe temporary state/mood and location
Common mistakes
It doesn't matter which Spanish translation of the verb 'to be' we use, as they both mean 'to be, being'.
The verb 'ser' is used to talk about permanent traits, and the verb 'estar' is used to talk about temporary states/moods and location.
For parents, carers and teachers
- The teacher might want to set a different time limit for task B1.