It might be tricky to decide whether to use ser or estar in Portuguese, since it is all the same in English — that is, you use the verb “to be” for most instances. But there are some very clear distinctions, as can be seen in the following chart.

Guidelines for Using Ser and Estar

Peculiar Uses

When talking about geographical location, there are at least three possibilities in Portuguese, all grammatically acceptable: (a) São Paulo é no Brasil; (b) São Paulo está no Brasil; and (c) São Paulo fica no Brasil, all of which are all translated as “São Paulo is (located) in Brazil.” Although ser would be the logical choice here, since the fact that a city is located in a particular country is inherent to it, both estar and ficar seem to be gaining ground in such cases.

There are some adjectives that are used with both ser and estar resulting in different interpretations of meaning, and thus different translations in English. If we say Ele é gordo (He is fat), we mean that being fat is this person's intrinsic quality. Another example of this is in the sentence Os elefantes são grandes (Elephants are big); it is clear that this being big is part and parcel of being an elephant. On the other hand, if we say Ele está gordo! (He is fat!), we mean that he looks or appears to be fat, because perhaps he has gained a lot of weight recently, and in demonstrating this recent change of state, we use estar to express surprise. The following are a series of examples with ser and estar and their translations.

Using Both Ser and Estar

Think you've got a handle on all this? Give it a try with the following exercises.

Exercise: Choosing Ser or Estar

Decide whether ser or estar belongs in the following sentences. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• Clarice é/está no hospital. (Clarice is in the hospital.)

• Ela é/está médica pediatra. (She is a pediatrician.)

• Ela é/está uma pessoa contente por natureza. (She is a happy person by nature.)

• Clarice e Kadu são/estão brasileiros. (Clarice and Kadu are Brazilian.)

• Agora eles são/estão no Rio de Janeiro. (Now they are in Rio de Janeiro.)

• Kadu é/está estudante de medicina. (Kadu is a medical student.)

• Ele é/está nervosa com os exames. (He is nervous about exams.)

Exercise: Now You Conjugate!

Write in the correct verb form, using either ser or estar. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• Meus pais_____________________na Europa. (My parents are in Europe.)

• O vermelho_____________________uma cor linda. (Red is a beautiful color.)

• Meu amigo Jonas_____________________engenheiro civil. (My friend Jonas is a civil engineer.)

• O livro de português_____________________em cima da mesa. (The Portuguese book is on top of the table.)

• Fortaleza_____________________no Nordeste do Brasil. (Fortaleza is located in the northeast of Brazil.)

• _____________________sete horas da noite. (It's seven o'clock at night.)

• Nós_____________________muito contentes com os nossos filhos. (We are very happy with our children.)

Exercise: Time to Translate

Translate the following sentences into Portuguese. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• She looks thin.   _________________________________________

• They are teachers.  _________________________________________

• He is furious.    _________________________________________

• We are Cuban.   _________________________________________

• You are in the city.  _________________________________________