Also, Spanish has two main verbs for “to be”. There’s “ser”, which is used for things that are inherent (e.g.: “Yo soy de Mexico” means “I am from Mexico”). But then there’s also “estar”, which is used for the current state of things, or a temporary status (e.g.: “Yo estoy enfermo” means “I am sick (in my current state)”).
The library is a thing, not a person. That’s why you say está, because there’s nothing inherent about a library, it’s just an outer description. In general location descriptions are described with está, no ser.
Estoy triste: I am sad right now
Soy triste: I am a sad person, in general.
La biblioteca está genial: the library is awesome right now (maybe due to an event or special decoration or because it was recently cleaned).
La biblioteca es genial: the library is awesome in general.
Tengo hambre: I am hungry
Soy hambre: I am hunger/(a hungry person)
And then locations and buildings come to fuck up that way of remembering it, because la biblioteca está allí, not la biblioteca es allí.
True that. I guess maybe it’s because a building’s location isn’t necessarily part of its essence. Or how it feels more natural with respect to a person, e.g.: “yo estoy en la biblioteca” makes sense cause a person moves from place to place. I guess technically buildings can be moved but it’s still a bit confusing.
Also, Spanish has two main verbs for “to be”. There’s “ser”, which is used for things that are inherent (e.g.: “Yo soy de Mexico” means “I am from Mexico”). But then there’s also “estar”, which is used for the current state of things, or a temporary status (e.g.: “Yo estoy enfermo” means “I am sick (in my current state)”).
“ser” is a cognate of “essence”, “estar” of “state” :D
Ahh. I knew about “estar” but I never knew that about “ser”. Very good to know!
This little nugget would have come in handy when I was learning Spanish
And then locations and buildings come to fuck up that way of remembering it, because la biblioteca está allí, not la biblioteca es allí. 😩
Did you know that Spanish speaking kids don’t do spelling bees, they do grammar competitions? Not hard to see why, haha!
The library is a thing, not a person. That’s why you say está, because there’s nothing inherent about a library, it’s just an outer description. In general location descriptions are described with está, no ser.
Estoy triste: I am sad right now Soy triste: I am a sad person, in general.
La biblioteca está genial: the library is awesome right now (maybe due to an event or special decoration or because it was recently cleaned).
La biblioteca es genial: the library is awesome in general.
Tengo hambre: I am hungry
Soy hambre: I am hunger/(a hungry person)
True that. I guess maybe it’s because a building’s location isn’t necessarily part of its essence. Or how it feels more natural with respect to a person, e.g.: “yo estoy en la biblioteca” makes sense cause a person moves from place to place. I guess technically buildings can be moved but it’s still a bit confusing.
Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, but differ on those kind of things. We say “a biblioteca é ali” (though “a biblioteca está ali” is also used).
We also don’t use “me fez feliz” (it made me happy) as much as they say “me puso feliz”, normally you say “fiquei feliz” (i became happy)
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