Explaining the uses of ser and estar: A didactic proposal for English learners of Spanish

Abstract

The distinction between ser and estar is one of the most difficult aspects of Spanish grammar for English learners of Spanish. There are many authors from different backgrounds that have dealt with this topic aiming to explain the contexts in which both copulas can appear and those in which only one of the two may occur. Nevertheless, this specific subject of Spanish grammar still creates confusion among non-native speakers of Spanish. Due to the large amount of exceptions within the norm and the incomplete and unclear explanations of the topic provided in many manuals, Spanish learners acquire a vague knowledge of the correct uses of ser and estar preventing them from a full comprehension. For that reason, the aim of this paper is to shed some light on this convoluted issue. Ser and estar are two copulative verbs whose functions widely differ between them. While ser is used to represent temporal and inherent individual properties, estar expresses temporal events. Nonetheless, things are not as easy as they seem to be, since there are many contexts in which both copulas are likely to get mixed by English students of Spanish, due to the fact that their mother tongue lacks this type of distinction. Additionally, and due to their capriciuous character, they do not always appear in complementary distribution. For these reasons, I will deeply analyse the occurrence of these two predicates and their restrictions with regards to the acceptability of one verb or the other following the account based on the distinction of individual and stage level predicates. Finally, I will expose a didactic proposal for practising the uses of both verbs in different learning levels.