Adjectives that work with both ser and estar
¡Hola!
You all probably know by now that we have two verbs for "to be" in Spanish: ser and estar.
We use them for different things, and in general we can say that ser is for things not likely to change, more long lasting, and estar are for things that we expect to change quickly, like feelings.
If you're new to this or you feel like you need a recap, you can check out the blog post on ser and estar I wrote.
Today we're going to see some words that we can use with both of them, and why.
Here are they:
Different meaning with ser and estar
Bueno
Ser bueno/a - to be good (versus bad), it can be a good washing machine, a good person, a good singer...
Estar bueno/a - with food (to be tasty) or with people (to be hot).
Malo
Ser malo/a - to be bad (versus good), it can be again an object, a person...
Estar malo/a - with food (to be expired or it has gone bad) or with people (to be ill, informal).
Listo
Ser listo/a - to be clever
Estar listo/a - for something or someone to be ready
Despierto
Ser despierto/a - to be sharp or bright
Estar despierto/a - to be awake
Interesado
Ser interesado/a - to be self-interested
Estar interesado/a - to be interested (in something or someone)
Orgulloso
Ser orgulloso/a - to be a proud or conceited person
Estar orgulloso/a - to be pleased or proud of something or someone
Rico
Ser rico/a - to be rich (for people)
Estar rico/a - for food, to be tasty
Vivo
Ser vivo/a - to be sharp or quick, or full of live
Estar vivo/a - to be alive
Molesto
Ser molesto/a - to be bothering (someone or something)
Estar molesto/a - to be annoyed
Aburrido
Ser aburrido/a - to be boring
Estar aburrido/a - to be bored
Seguro
Ser seguro/a - to be confident, sure of oneself
Estar seguro/a- to be sure of something
also, both are to be safe (with ser, as a quality, like a safe situation, and with estar as a state, like being temporarily safe)
Same meaning with ser and with estar
In this case we just know that with ser we refer to the more long lasting quality, and with estar is something temporary, more of a feeling or demeanor or even attitude.
Let's see some:
Apperance
Ser guapo/a - to be pretty or handsome
Estar guapo/a - to look good (at that time in particular)
With some adjectives that describe appearance we do this: gordo, delgado, joven, mayor rellenito, alto, bajo...
For example, if we say ¡Qué alto está tu hijo! (how tall is your son looking!) we mean that is very tall now, looking tall, maybe comparing with last time we saw him.
Or if we say Manolo está delgado (Manolo is looking slim) it'd be that he maybe lost weight.
Personality/behaviour
Ser tonto/a - to be stupid, or for something to be silly
Estar tonto/a - to be acting silly or dumb in the situation
Ser serio/a - to be a serious person
Estar serio/a - to be acting seriously, have a serious demeanor or expression in the moment.
Ser feliz - to be happy, in general, with one's life
Estar feliz - to be happy in an specific moment or for a specific reason.
Conditions
Ser ciego/a- to be a blind person
Estar ciego/a - to be blind in a particular situation
Same thing for mudo/a (mute) or sordo/a (deaf).
Others
Sometimes we can have an adjective like limpio (clean) that you could use for an animal or a person (the cat is clean / he's a clean person) or for a place or object (the car is clean).
In this case, the first would be with "ser" (characteristic of the cat, the person...) and the other with "estar" (temporary state).
Another example:
La habitación está ordenada - the room is tidy
Manuel es muy ordenado - Manuel is very tidy (a very tidy person).
Those are the "pairs" that I think are most useful and easy to use, let me know in the comments below if you have any question,
¡Hasta la próxima! / See you next time! :)