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Understanding Ser, Estar, and Ficar

This document summarizes the differences between ser, estar, and ficar in Portuguese. Ser denotes inherent or permanent qualities, estar denotes current or temporary state, and ficar denotes change of state. Ser is used for identities and professions, estar is used to denote the location of movable objects, and ficar or estar can both be used to denote the location of immovable objects.

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Juan Domingo
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231 views2 pages

Understanding Ser, Estar, and Ficar

This document summarizes the differences between ser, estar, and ficar in Portuguese. Ser denotes inherent or permanent qualities, estar denotes current or temporary state, and ficar denotes change of state. Ser is used for identities and professions, estar is used to denote the location of movable objects, and ficar or estar can both be used to denote the location of immovable objects.

Uploaded by

Juan Domingo
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

SER/ESTAR E FICAR

 Ser - to be - permanently/inherently
 Estar - to be - currently (changeable)
 Ficar - to stay

For characteristics and qualities

 Ser - To be permanently, or something related to identity - Inherent


quality
 Estar - To be at the moment or in short term - Current state
 Ficar - To become/to turn (into) - Change of state

Examples

 Ela é lind/bonita = She is beautiful (always, it's her nature to be


beautiful)
 Ela está linda = She is beautiful (at this moment, with these clothes, with
this haircut, she looks beautiful now)
 Ela fica linda = She becomes/gets beautiful
 Ela está linda com esse vestido = She is beautiful in this dress
 Ela fica linda com esse vestido = She becomes beautiful in this dress /
This dress makes her beautiful

Identity vs State - Ser vs Estar


Another way of seeing this, specially when referring to people, is the
difference between identity/personality and current state.
That explains why, for instance, only "ser" is used for professions.
Professions are attached to identity, it's not really seen as a current state,
althoug you can philosophically see it like that.

 Ele é engenheiro = He is an engineer


 Ele é diferente - his personality/body is different from others
 Ele está diferente - he is currently behaving/looking different - he
changed

.
For places and locations - static objects (cannot be moved)
 Ser - Indicates the location of an unmovable thing.
 Estar - Hardly used, because unmovable objects don't have the
transitory meaning.
 Ficar - Indicates the location of an unmovable thing

The choice between "ser" and "ficar" has no rule, and there is no
difference.
Examples

 A casa é naquela rua = the house is on that street


 A casa fica naquela rua = the house is on that street
 Meu escritório fica no restaurante = My office is in the restaurant.

There are other ways of saying this like "está localizado/a em", "localiza-se
em"
.
For places and locations - movable objects

 Ser - not used for movable objects


 Estar - indicates where the object is at this moment
 Ficar - indicates where the object belongs to/is used to be

Examples

 A chave está na parede da cozinha - The key is at the kitchen's wall


 A chave fica na parede da cozinha - The key belongs/stays on the
kitchen's wall / The kitchen's wall is where the keys are commonly kept.

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