Conjugating the Irregular Spanish Verb Estar (to be)

Spanish Phrases For Dummies

Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and each group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like estar (ehs-tahr) (to be), you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to:

Regular: Follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs
Stem-changing: Morphs depending on how you use it in a sentence
Spelling-changing: Has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules
Reflexive: Reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence

But then there are those verbs that refuse to be lumped into a category: the irregulars. Estar is an irregular -ar verb; it doesn’t follow most normal ending patterns, so your best bet is to just memorize its conjugation. Other popular irregular Spanish verbs include: ser, tener, venir and ir.

Present tense conjugation

Here's estar in the present tense; note that four of the forms have required accent marks:

The Present Tense of **Estar**
Conjugation	Translation
yo estoy	I am
tú estás	You (informal) are
él/ella/ello/uno está	He/she/one is
usted está	You (formal) are
nosotros estamos	We are
vosotros estáis	You all (informal) are
ellos/ellas están	They are
ustedes están	You all (formal) are

The following examples show you estar in action:

Nosotros estamos en el cine. (We are at the cinema.)
Ella está triste. (She is sad.)

Preterit tense conjugation

In the preterit, estar has an irregular stem: estuv-. Notice also that it doesn’t have the accent marks regular verbs use in the preterit. Take a look:

The Preterit Tense of **Estar**
Conjugation	Translation
yo estuve	I was
tú estuviste	You (informal) were
él/ella/ello/uno estuvo	He/she/one was
usted estuvo	You (formal) were
nosotros estuvimos	We were
vosotros estuvisteis	You all (informal) were
ellos/ellas estuvieron	They were
ustedes estuvieron	You all (formal) were

You use the preterit tense like this:

¿Estuviste en tu casa ayer? (Were you at home yesterday?)
Si. Estuve en casa todo el día. (Yes. I was home all day long.)

Imperfect tense conjugation

You’re off the hook in the imperfect and future forms; estar conjugates normally in these tenses. Check out the following tables and examples.

The Imperfect Tense of **Estar**
Conjugation	Translation
yo estaba	I used to be
tú estabas	You (informal) used to be
él/ella/ello/uno estaba	He/she/one used to be
usted estaba	You (formal) used to be
nosotros estábamos	We used to be
vosotros estabais	You all (informal) used to be
ellos/ellas estaban	They used to be
ustedes estaban	You all (formal) used to be

Here are some examples of the imperfect tense:

¿Estaban ustedes acostumbrados a leer? (Were you used to reading?)
Si. Estábamos acostumbrados a leer. (Yes. We were used to reading.)

Future tense conjugation

The Future Tense of **Estar**
Conjugation	Translation
yo estaré	I will be
tú estarás	You (informal) will be
él/ella/ello/uno estará	He/she/one will be
usted estará	You (formal) will be
nosotros estaremos	We will be
vosotros estaréis	You all (informal) will be
ellos/ellas estarán	They will be
ustedes estarán	You all (formal) will be