Lesson 30

Estar for How and Where

Language Transfer Complete Spanish is by Mihalis Eleftheriou. Listen to the original audio first; use these notes for revision.

Cómo = how. Dónde = where. Since asking someone "how are you" is asking about their current state, you use estar: ¿Cómo estás?

Vas = you go / you are going (informal, from ir). Deber = to owe / must. Debe = he/she must.

This lesson drills all the estar forms with emphasis pronouns and practices combining estar with other verbs and prepositions.

Sentences practiced

Spanish	English
¿Cómo estás?	How are you? (informal)
¿Cómo está?	How are you? (formal)
¿Cómo están?	How are you? (plural)
¿Dónde estás?	Where are you?
No sé dónde estamos.	I don't know where we are.
Estoy aquí.	I'm here.
Quiero estar aquí.	I want to be here.
Voy a estar aquí más tarde.	I'm going to be here later.
Vas.	You go. / You're going.
¿Dónde vas a estar?	Where are you going to be?
Yo estoy.	I am.
Él está.	He is.
Ella está.	She is. (emphatic)
Usted está.	You (formal) are.
Ellos están.	They are. (masculine/mixed)
Ellas están.	They are. (feminine)
Nosotros estamos.	We are. (masculine/mixed)
Nosotras estamos.	We are. (feminine)
Tú estás.	You are. (informal, emphatic)
¿Dónde tienen que estar?	Where do they have to be?
Debe estar aquí.	He must be here.
Debe estar cansado.	He must be tired.
Deben estar cansados.	They must be tired. (masculine/mixed)
Deben estar cansadas.	They must be tired. (feminine)
Me quedo.	I stay.
Nos quedamos.	We stay.
No vamos a quedarnos.	We're not going to stay.
Porque estamos muy cansados.	Because we're very tired.