estar + State/Result

Estar for State and Result

Level 3

Estar can highlight a resulting state, with the adjective agreeing with its subject.

How It Works

Use estar for many conditions: estic cansat, està contenta, estem bé. An adjective agrees with the person or thing described, while bé is an invariable adverb. Accents distinguish estàs and està and belong to their stressed final syllables.

A result adjective or participle can report the condition reached after a change: les portes estan tancades, el got està trencat. The participle agrees with the described noun, so plural feminine portes requires tancades.

Do not make estar obligatory for every state or every participle. Ser remains possible in various traditional or descriptive uses, and the choice can differ by variety and interpretation. With clearly idiomatic condition phrases such as estar a punt or estar en obres, learn the full expression. Compare a result description with a compound action tense: hem tancat la porta tells what we did; la porta està tancada describes its state.

Examples (3)

  1. Les portes estan tancades.

    The doors are closed.

  2. El document està preparat.

    The document is ready.

  3. La casa està en obres.

    The house is undergoing building work.

How It Connects

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estar + State/ResultLevel 3Estar for State and Result

Learn This First

Distinguish conditions from an oversimplified temporary/permanent rule. Make a result participle agree with its noun.

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