Learn how to express a temporary condition using the Spanish verb that means "to be"
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Fernando: Are You Getting Sleepy? Can Spanish Help? |
| JP: Now, Fernando, before we listen to the dialogue, tell us what we’re going to learn today. |
| Fernando: In this lesson, you will learn about the verb estar to describe temporary states and conditions. This conversation takes pace at a party and the conversation is between Patricia and Diego. The speakers will be using the familiar register. |
| JP: Let’s listen to this dialogue. |
| DIALOGUES |
| Diego: ¿Estás bien? |
| Patricia: No, estoy muy cansada. |
| Diego: Ok, ¿quieres ir a casa? |
| Patricia: Sí, vámonos. |
| English Host: Let’s hear it again, dramatic speed. |
| Diego: ¿Estás bien? |
| Patricia: No, estoy muy cansada. |
| Diego: Ok, ¿quieres ir a casa? |
| Patricia: Sí, vámonos. |
| English Host: One more time with the translation. |
| Diego: ¿Estás bien? |
| JP: Are you all right? |
| Patricia: No, estoy muy cansada. |
| JP: No, I'm very tired. |
| Diego: Ok, ¿quieres ir a casa? |
| JP: Okay, do you wanna go home? |
| Patricia: Sí, vámonos. |
| JP: Yes, let's go. |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| JP: We’re back and it looks like Patricia is done for the night. |
| Fernando: That’s what Diego is about to find out by asking - ¿Estás bien? |
| JP: ¿Estás bien? Okay, this is a question of concern, right? ¿Estás bien? “Are you okay?” And Patricia says, “No, I’m very tired.” |
| Fernando: No, estoy muy cansada. |
| JP: Okay, Fernando, what’s the word for “tired”? |
| Fernando: cansada |
| JP: Cansada. Okay, it means tired. She actually says I’m very tired. |
| Fernando: Estoy muy cansada. |
| JP: Estoy muy cansada, okay. |
| Fernando: Very, yes. |
| JP: Very tired, muy cansada. Now, you noticed that in both these lines of dialogue, we’re using the same verb which is estar, right? Diego said, “Are you okay?” |
| Fernando: ¿Estás bien? |
| JP: ¿Estás bien? That’s the verb estar, estás. And then Patricia says, “I’m tired.” |
| Fernando: Estoy muy cansada. |
| JP: Estoy muy cansada. So those two forms; estás, estoy, are both forms of estar. Alright. Let’s move on. So, Patricia says she’s tired, so Diego says, “Well, do you wanna go home?” |
| Fernando: Ok, ¿quieres ir a casa? |
| JP: Ok, ¿quieres ir a casa? Now, Fernando, ok looks like English to me. Is that Spanish also? |
| Fernando: Yeah, it’s Spanish. |
| JP: Okay. |
| Fernando: It’s universal actually. |
| JP: Okay. And then he asked, “Do you wanna go home?” |
| Fernando: ¿Quieres ir a casa? |
| JP: ¿Quieres ir a casa? Now that word for home is casa, right? |
| Fernando: Yes. |
| JP: And to go home? |
| Fernando: ir a casa |
| JP: Ir a casa. That verb ir means “to go.” Now, his question is, “Do you want to go home?” So, how do we say “Do you want…”? |
| Fernando: quieres |
| JP: Quieres. Okay, now, this is the verb querer, which is “to want” and the second person singular form is “you want” quieres, okay? Let’s put it together. Okay, do you want to go home? |
| Fernando: ¿Quieres ir a casa? |
| JP: And Patricia says. |
| Fernando: Sí, vámonos. |
| JP: Sí, vámonos. A lot of English speakers know this expression, vámonos, right? |
| Fernando: vámonos |
| JP: Right. This means let’s get out of here. Let’s leave, alright. It’s the verb irse, which means “to get out” or “to leave.” Fernando, let’s go to the vocabulary section. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Fernando: estar [natural native speed] |
| JP: to be |
| Fernando: estar [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: estar [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: cansado [natural native speed] |
| JP: tired |
| Fernando: cansado [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: cansado [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: ir a casa [natural native speed] |
| JP: to go home |
| Fernando: ir a casa [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: ir a casa [natural native speed] |
| Fernando: Vámonos. [natural native speed] |
| JP: Let's leave. |
| Fernando: Vámonos. [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| Fernando: Vámonos. [natural native speed] |
| KEY VOCAB AND PHRASES |
| JP: Alright, Fernando, let’s take a closer look at these vocabulary words. |
| Fernando: Let’s start with estar. |
| JP: Estar. Okay, estar means “to be” and it’s one of two verbs in Spanish that means to be. Estar is the version of to be that you use when you wanna describe temporary states and conditions, so something that’s not a part of somebody’s identity. For example, being tired. |
| Fernando: Estar cansado. |
| JP: Estar cansado is “to be tired.” |
| Fernando: Cansado, which actually is the next word. |
| JP: Okay. Cansado means “tired.” Cansado. As I was saying about estar, being tired is not a part of your identity, right? It’s a temporary state, it’s a temporary condition. You’ll have a glass of water, go to sleep and you’ll wake up fresh in the morning, hopefully. |
| Fernando: Hopefully. |
| JP: So that’s why we use cansado with estar, because tiredness is something that comes and goes. It’s not permanent. It’s just temporary. |
| Fernando: Ir a casa. |
| JP: Ir a casa, to go home. Now, Diego, very... |
| Fernando: Gentlemanly, perhaps. |
| JP: In a very gentlemanly way, asked Patricia if she wanted to go home. |
| Fernando: ¿Quieres ir a casa? |
| JP: ¿Quieres ir a casa? Okay. So you heard the whole phrase, ir a casa, there as an infinitive phrase, “to go home,” ir a casa. That word “casa” at the end actually means “house.” |
| Fernando: Vamonos |
| JP: Vamonos, “let’s get out of here.” |
| Fernando: Let’s go. |
| JP: Let’s go. Now, as I said before, this is the first person plural imperative of the verb irse. Now, a lot of people ask me, “JP, what’s the difference between vamonos and vamos?” And the difference is vamonos is the verb irse, which means “to take off” or “to get out” or “to leave.” Vamos is the verb ir which means “to go.” So, vamos “let’s go.” Vamonos, “let’s get out of here.” |
| Fernando: Well done, JP. |
| JP: Thanks. Shall we move on to the grammar section? |
| Fernando: I think we should. |
| GRAMMAR POINT |
| JP: Now, we’re gonna talk about the verb estar to describe temporary states and conditions. Now, we already kind of demonstrated it with the adjective cansado, right? “To be tired.” |
| Fernando: Cansado, estar cansado. |
| JP: Estar cansado. And we said that being tired is used with estar because tiredness is not something that’s part of your identity. It’s something that comes and goes, right? It’s a temporary state or condition. Now, Fernando, I noticed something in the dialogue. Patricia did not actually say estoy cansado. She said estoy cansada. |
| Fernando: Because she’s a female! |
| JP: Okay. So when we use adjectives for temporary states or conditions like cansado, you gotta make sure that adjective agrees with the subject, okay? Since Patricia is the one that’s tired, Patricia is describing herself. She’s gonna use a feminine adjective, right, cansada. |
| Fernando: cansada |
| JP: Now, we have it listed in the vocabulary traditionally in the masculine form, right? In the dictionary, it’s gonna do that as well. But whenever you talk about a woman, you’re gonna have to use the feminine form of that adjective, alright? |
| Fernando: Or if you’re a woman, you don’t wanna... |
| JP: Talk about yourself. |
| Fernando: Yes. |
| JP: Or other women. |
| Fernando: Or other women. |
| JP: Fernando, you would never say that. You would never say estoy cansada. |
| Fernando: No. |
| JP: How would you say it? |
| Fernando: Estoy cansado. |
| JP: Estoy cansado. You know what, I’m a little tired too. I think we’re both tired. How do we say this in Spanish? |
| Fernando: Estamos cansados. |
| JP: Estamos cansados. Okay. We use estar in the plural form, right? Estamos “we are.” Now, Fernando, say it again that we are tired. |
| Fernando: Estamos cansados. |
| JP: Estamos cansados. Fernando, I noticed you put an “s” on that cansados. |
| Fernando: You notice a lot of stuff, JP. Yes, that’s right because it’s plural. |
| JP: Right. I’m tired, you’re tired, we’re both tired. There’s two of us, so we’re gonna use the plural, cansados - Estamos cansados. Now, you’ll notice that this is a little different from English. In English, our adjectives don’t change. I’m tired, you’re tired, she’s tired, he’s tired. In Spanish, the adjective they use with estar is gonna reflect the gender and number of the person or people that are tired. So, we are tired, estamos cansados. |
Outro |
|---|
| JP: For now, it’s time to go, so hasta luego. |
| Fernando: Adiós. |
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