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Old 28-07-08, 11:53
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Default To Be or not To Be

Would you use the verb SER or ESTAR in the following sentence?

Estos vaqueros ___?____ muy cómodos, pero ya ___?____ viejos.


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Old 28-07-08, 11:57
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estos vaqueros son muy comodos, pera ya estan viejos
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Old 28-07-08, 12:00
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Can you explaine why
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Old 28-07-08, 15:25
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"ser", or in this case "son"-3rd person plural, is used to describe the nature and characteristics of something, whereas "estar" -"estan" in this sentence above,describes the current state of something- how it is at that moment...
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Old 28-07-08, 16:27
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I would have thought it be the other way round as the jeans being comfortable is a temporary condition but being old is a fact
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Old 28-07-08, 16:55
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy58 View Post
I would have thought it be the other way round as the jeans being comfortable is a temporary condition but being old is a fact
I agree with @cinnamon. The jeans are currently old, but were young in the past, therefore not an inherent quality of the jeans. They are just old at present, therefore estar. As for the comfort, this treated as an inherent property, therefore ser (even if they are only comfortable when old)
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Old 28-07-08, 18:08
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although the Jeans are old, they can be older.
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Old 29-07-08, 10:31
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You don't find this out for a few years, but there are some instances in which either word is appropriate. I reckon it's usually a transition period of a few months for estar to become ser.

But I'd say estos vaqueros son muy cómodos, pero ya son viejos.
Why?
They're fit is simply not going to change overnight. They're also not going to get any younger. I.e. it's permanent. When you put on a few kilos, you can say "no son muy comodos..."

Just look at it this way. If someone appears fatter than normal on a particular day (bloated), you might say está gordo. If they are fat, es gordo. If Someone loses weight, at first people would say está flaco, but when they actually become skinny, es flaco.

Estas comodo tends to be used when you're sitting on a couch.
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Old 29-07-08, 10:55
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It's just one of those weird language things.
A man is Masculine ...... Un Hombre, but a person is feminine, even when referring to a man, Una Persona.
So much easier in English. But then our language is a hive of contradictions when it comes to spelling.
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Old 29-07-08, 10:59
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BLANCHE HALSTEAD View Post
It's just one of those weird language things.
A man is Masculine ...... Un Hombre, but a person is feminine, even when referring to a man, Una Persona.
So much easier in English. But then our language is a hive of contradictions when it comes to spelling.
try to explain the pronunciation of the spanish "a", "e" and "i"....i have never come across someone native english who got the hang of that one straight away
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