Quote:
Originally Posted by cab83_750
For the Spanish speaking people, I was told "esta" implies 'temporary'. Why do you say "El pero esta muerto (the dog is dead)." Heck, the dog "is" dead.
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Tough one, even for a native speaker.
We have in Spanish two different verbs that mean "To be": "Ser" and "Estar". "Ser" implies non changing characteristics while "Estar" implies changing or modifiable characteristics. For example:
- Yo soy rubio = I am blond (uses "ser" since it does not change)
- Yo estoy dormido = I am asleep (uses "estar" since I will change my state to awake)
The dog was alive and now is dead, hence the use of "estar".
You are ("estar") tall, handsome, bald, nice, a moron, etc. but you are ("ser") asleep, reading, happy, ****ed, etc.
Disclaimer: I am not a linguist nor play one on TV, so take this with a grain of salt
