Describing People, Places, and Things by Sandra Rosenstiel
The world is full of all kinds of people, places, and things. Let's review and expand your vocabulary by looking at some words to name people, places, and things.
Person |
Place |
Thing |
la madre/el padre
(mother/father) |
la ciudad (city) |
el libro (book) |
el/la abuelo/a
(grandparent) |
el pueblo (town) |
el periódico (newspaper) |
el/la esposo/a (spouse) |
el campo (countryside) |
la planta (plant) |
el/la hijo/a (son/daughter) |
la casa (home/house) |
el coche/el carro (car) |
el/la amigo/a (friend) |
el teatro (theater) |
la taquilla (ticket booth) |
el/la novio/a (boy/girlfriend) |
el cine (cinema) |
la película (movie) |
el/la niño/a (child) |
el parque (park) |
el banco (bench) |
el/la vecino/a (neighbor) |
la vecindad/el barrio
(neighborhood) |
la calle (street) |
Once you've identified the people, places, and things around you, you can come up with all sorts of descriptions using ser or estar with adjectives. Remember, though, that ser + adjective refers to essential characteristics like personality, color, and interest, while estar + adjective describes states of being, like how someone or something looks or feels at a particular time. There is a big difference between Mi novio está triste (My boyfriend feels sad) and Mi novio es triste (My boyfriend is a sad person)!
Adjectives
Essential Characteristic |
State of Being |
Either |
inteligente (intelligent) |
contento/a (content) |
grande (big) |
pequeño/a (small) |
loco/a (crazy) |
delgado/a (slender) |
internacional
(international)
|
sentado/a (seated) |
gordo/a (fat) |
interesante (interesting) |
interesado/a (interested) |
aburrido/a (boring/bored) |
peruano/a (Peruvian) |
cerrado/a (closed) |
cansado/a
(tiresome/tired)
|
ruidoso/a (noisy) |
abierto/a (open) |
(des)ordenado/a
(messy/neat)
|
natural (natural) |
destrozado/a (destroyed) |
bonito/a (pretty) |
azul (blue) |
mojado/a (wet) |
difícil (difficult) |
trabajador/a
(hardworking) |
roto/a (broken) |
limpio/a (clean) |
religioso/a (religious) |
enojado/a (angry) |
tranquilo/a (calm) |
The use of ser to describe essential characteristics and estar to identify states of being is a general distinction. There are many dialectal differences from country to country, as well as idiomatic uses of ser and estar with adjectives that might seem surprising at first. In Mexico, for example, estar is used much more than ser with adjectives that would seem to describe essential characteristics, a dialectical feature that is less common in other countries.
Most of these categorizations probably seem very clear-cut, but some may be surprising. When a combination strikes you as unexpected, think about why the speaker might have chosen one verb or the other. For example, colors are generally conceived of as essential characteristics. Blue is blue, and once something is blue, the color is considered to be an essential characteristic and would be described using the verb ser. Green, however, is both a color and the term used for unripe fruit. Unripeness is a state of being and would be described with the verb estar. So it's possible to have a sentence like this: Las manzanas Granny Smith son verdes y esta manzana está muy verde (Granny Smith apples are green and this apple is very unripe). Let's look at some other examples to help you get a better feel for the difference between using ser and estar with some adjectives:
La ciudad de Buenos Aires es grande.
(The city of Buenos Aires is large.)
Tu hijo está grande.
(Your son is big. Your son has grown.)
La novia de Alejandro es bonita.
(Alejandro's girlfriend is pretty.)
Silvia, estás muy bonita.
(Silvia, you look very pretty.)
Size would seem to be an essential characteristic and, in the case of things that don't change size, like cities, that is absolutely true. In those cases, ser is the verb you want to use. However, people can change size:kids get bigger as they get older, and people lose and gain weight, becoming heavier or thinner. You can express these changes of state in Spanish simply by using estar with adjectives like grande, gordo, and delgado. Notice that smallness doesn't easily fit into this category. Your grandmother may look like she's shrinking, but it would be unusual to describe that change with estar and pequeña. It could be done, though, and the implication would be precisely that she is getting smaller, not just shorter or thinner!
Practice: Describing People, Places, and Things
Try making sentences from the following cues. Then check your answers with the sample answers provided in Appendix D, paying closest attention to the combination of ser or estar with the adjective.
madre / pueblo / pequeño
niño / banco / sentado
películas / internacionales / interesantes
vecindad / calles / limpias
Eliana / hondureña / trabajadora
La Ciudad de México / ruidosa / grande
amigo / enojado
el cine / la taquilla / abierta
Víctor / aburrido
casa / tranquila
Noun and Adjective Agreement
Do you remember than all nouns in Spanish are either masculine or feminine? Most masculine nouns end in -o, and most feminine nouns end in -a. Other common masculine endings are -aje, -men, -gen, and -or. Other common feminine endings are -dad, -ud, -ed, -ión, -umbre, -ie, and -sis.
Of course, there are exceptions, but these endings are pretty reliable indicators. Look at the following examples of masculine and feminine words:
Masculine Noun Endings
Ending |
Example |
English |
Feminine Exceptions |
-aje |
viaje |
journey/trip |
none |
-men |
examen |
exam |
none |
-gen |
origen |
origin |
la imagen (image), la
margen (margin) |
-or |
doctor |
male doctor |
la labor (work, handwork) |
-o |
libro |
book |
la mano (hand) |
Feminine Noun Endings
Ending |
Example |
English |
Masculine Exceptions |
-dad |
ciudad |
city |
none |
-ud |
salud |
health |
el ataúd (coffin) |
-ed |
merced |
mercy |
none |
-ión |
religión |
religion |
el gorrión (sparrow) |
-umbre |
costumbre |
custom |
none |
-ie |
serie |
series |
none |
-sis |
síntesis |
synthesis |
el análisis, énfasis |
-a |
libra |
pound, lb. |
el mapa, el problema |
Knowing the gender of a noun, whether it is masculine or feminine, is important when you describe things because the adjective you use must agree with the noun in gender as well as number (singular or plural). That's why you would say El pueblo es pequeño but change pequeño to pequeña in La ciudad es pequeña. Remember than adjectives that end in the vowel -e or a consonant remain the same whether they describe a masculine or a feminine noun. For example, María es una niña muy inteligente y su her-mano Xavier es un niño interesante.
When you describe plural nouns, the adjective must also be plural:Los pueblos son pequeños and Las ciudades son pequeñas. Adjectives that don't need to change for masculine or feminine will change to plural when you describe plural nouns: María y Sonia son niñas inteligentes y sus hermanos Xavier y Pedro son interesantes. Don't worry if you make mistakes, though. Your message will usually be clear even if you mix up noun and adjective agreement.
Practice: Nouns and Adjectives
Now it's time to practice a bit by translating a few sentences into Spanish. Double-check your choice of ser or estar. Then compare your work to the answers in Appendix D.
The customs in Spain are interesting.
Quito is an international city.
The doctor (fem.) is Chilean.
The streets of our town are tranquil.
Your problem is difficult.
The maps are pretty.
The author's (masc.) origin is Cuban.
Marisa's boyfriend is hardworking.
My hand is broken.
The city is beautiful.
