“Soy aburrido” and “estoy aburrido” are not the same thing: ten adjectives that change meaning with ser and estar.

“Soy aburrido” and “estoy aburrido” look almost identical, but one is a confession and the other is a mood. In the first, you are a boring person. In the second, you are simply bored. Around a dozen Spanish adjectives work like this: the meaning changes depending on whether you use ser or estar. They are a favourite trap for students who have memorised “ser is permanent, estar is temporary” and then meet a word where that rule is not enough.

The test that works better than “permanent or temporary”

Ask yourself: am I describing what something is like, or how it is right now? Ser gives the identity or nature of a person or thing. Estar gives a state, a condition or the result of a change. With these adjectives, that small difference becomes a different word in English.

Ten pairs to learn together

• aburrido: es aburrido (he is boring) · está aburrido (he is bored)
• listo: es listo (he is clever) · está listo (he is ready)
• malo: es malo (he is bad, unkind) · está malo (he is ill)
• bueno: es buena (she is a good person) · está buena (the soup is tasty)
• rico: es rico (he is wealthy) · está rico (the food is delicious)
• vivo: es vivo (he is sharp, quick) · está vivo (he is alive)
• seguro: es seguro (it is safe) · estoy seguro (I am sure)
• orgulloso: es orgulloso (he is proud, even arrogant) · está orgulloso (he is proud of something)
• abierto: es abierto (he is open-minded, outgoing) · está abierto (the shop is open)
• callado: es callado (he is a quiet person) · está callado (he is quiet right now)

If the English changes when you swap ser for estar, you have found one of these pairs.

Four activities (about ten minutes)

1. Cover and translate. Cover the Spanish and say each of the twenty English meanings out loud. Check, then repeat only the ones you missed.
2. Fill the gap with the right form (ser or estar).
   a) Mi hermano ____ muy listo; siempre saca buenas notas.
   b) ¿____ listos para salir?
   c) Hoy ____ aburrida porque no tengo nada que hacer.
   d) Esta película ____ muy aburrida.
   e) Esta sopa ____ muy rica.
   f) Su familia ____ muy rica: tienen tres casas.
   g) Mi abuelo ____ malo; tiene fiebre.
   h) Este barrio ____ seguro de noche.
3. Write your own pair. Choose two adjectives from the list and write four sentences about people you know, two with ser and two with estar.
4. The two-minute oral drill. Describe a friend and then describe how they feel today, using at least three pairs. Record it and listen for any place where the meaning is not what you intended.

Answers to activity 2: a) es · b) Estáis (or Estás, if you are speaking to one person) · c) estoy · d) es · e) está · f) es · g) está · h) es.

Why it matters in the exam

In writing and in the oral, one wrong verb can change what you say about a person, for example calling a friend boring when you meant that she was bored. A precise choice also shows range, which is part of what is rewarded in language assessment. Check the current subject guide for how language is assessed in your course.

If you are the parent

You can check this without any Spanish. Ask your child to teach you one pair and give you both English meanings. If the two meanings are the same, they have not understood it yet. Then play a one-minute game: you say a situation in English (“the soup is delicious”, “my uncle is rich”) and they answer with the full Spanish sentence. Three out of four correct is a good sign.

If you would like to see how your child’s grammar holds up in writing and speaking, book an assessment lesson below.