estar

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin stāre (“stand”), present active infinitive of stō (“stand”), from PIE *steh₂-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈta(ɾ)/
• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)
• Syllabification: es‧tar

Verb

estar

1. to be

Usage notes

Contrary to other Iberian languages, Aragonese only makes use of one verb "to be", this means that the verb "ser" is not present.

Conjugation

Catalan

Etymology

Inherited from Latin stāre (“to stand”). Where the velar infix that is characteristic for the second conjugation comes from is unknown.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a(ɾ)

Verb

estar (first-person singular present estic, first-person singular preterite estiguí, past participle estat)

1. (transitive, copulative) to be; to currently be in a state or have a characteristic (Used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes a temporary state of being.)

   Estic cansada. ― I am tired.

2. (auxiliary) forms the continuous aspect, together with a present participle

   Ja està dormint. ― He is already sleeping.

3. (intransitive, +adverbial phrase) to be located (to be in a place)

   La Torre Eiffel està a París. ― The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.

Usage notes

• This is one of two verbs that can be translated as to be, the other being ser/ésser. Ser/ésser indicates something that is inherent and not expected to change, whereas estar describes temporary qualities that apply only at a particular time. Ser/ésser relates to estar as essence relates to state, etymologically as well as semantically.

Conjugation

Derived terms

• benestar
• estada
• estament
• estança
• malestar

Related terms

• estadant
• estar-se
• estaria

Further reading

• “estar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “estar”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “estar” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “estar” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Franco-Provençal

Etymology

Derived from Latin stō, stāre (to stand, to be (location)).

Verb

estar

1. to be (location, state, status)

Conjugation

    Conjugation of estar

		simple			compound
infinitive		estar			estre estâ
gerund		estent			estent estâ
auxiliary verb		estre
past participle		masculine			feminine
	singular	estâ			estâye
	plural	estâs			estâyes
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		jo (j')	tu (t')	il/elli	nos	vos	ils
	present	esto	estes	este	estens	estaz, estâds	estont
	imperfect	estâvo	estâves	estâve	estâvans	estavaz, estâvâds	estâvant
	preterite	—	—	—	—	—	—
	future	esterei	esterés	estera	esterens	estereiz, esteréds	esterant, esteront
	conditional	esterê	esterês	esterêt	esterans	esteriaz, esterâds	esteriant
compound tenses	present perfect	present indicative of estre + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of estre + past participle
	past anterior	preterite indicative of estre + past participle
	future perfect	future indicative of estre + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of estre + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j')	que te (t')	qu'il/el	que nos	que vos	qu'ils/els
	present	esto	estes	este	estens	estâds	estont
	imperfect	—	—	—	—	—	—
compound tenses	past	present subjunctive of estre + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect subjunctive of estre + past participle
imperative		—	te	—	nos	vos	—
			esta		estens	estâds

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese estar, from Latin stāre (“stand”), present active infinitive of stō (“stand”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈtaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Hyphenation: es‧tar

Verb

estar (first-person singular present estou, first-person singular preterite estiven, past participle estado)
estar (first-person singular present estou, first-person singular preterite estivem or estive, past participle estado, reintegrationist norm)

1. to be

Usage notes

Like Portuguese and Spanish, Galician has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to be”. The verb ser relates to essence, origin, or physical description. In contrast, the verb estar relates to current state or position.

Conjugation

See also

• ser

Further reading

• “estar” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Ladino

Etymology

From Latin stāre (“stand”), present active infinitive of stō (“stand”).

Verb

estar (Latin spelling)

1. to be, be present

Old Galician-Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin stāre (“stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /es.ˈtaɾ/, /ˈstaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ

Verb

estar

1. to be

Conjugation

Descendants

• Galician: estar
• Portuguese: estar

Old Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈestar/

Verb

·estar

1. third-person singular present subjunctive conjunct of ithid

Mutation

Portuguese

Alternative forms

• tá (Brazil, nonstandard)
• tar (Portugal, nonstandard)

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese estar, from Latin stāre (“stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂-. The stems estev- or estiv- found in some inflections likely come from Vulgar Latin *stēvī (perfect in -ēv-, used by some Latin second conjugation verbs), hypothetical perfect stem that displaced original Classical Latin perfect stitī. The present subjunctive stem estej- is by analogy with ser, sej- (which is from Latin sedēre).

Pronunciation

• Homophone: está (Brazil)
• Hyphenation: es‧tar

Verb

estar (first-person singular present estou, first-person singular preterite estive, past participle estado)

2. (transitive with em or another locational preposition) to be (indicates location in space)

   Onde estás? ― Where are you?

   Estou em casa. ― I am at home.

4. (copulative) to be (denotes a transient quality; a quality expected to change)

   O tempo estava frio. ― The weather was cold (at that moment).

   Estás louco? ― Are you crazy (right now)?

   A maçã está madura. ― The apple is ripe.

6. (auxiliary with a and a verb in the infinitive (Portugal) or with the gerund (Brazil)) to be (forms the progressive aspect)

   Ela está cantando? / Ela está a cantar? ― Is she singing?

   Estavam trabalhando muito. ― They were working a lot.

   Estávamos a ler muito. ― We had been reading a lot.

   Estaremos a ler livros. ― We will be reading books.

8. (transitive) to cost (to be worth a certain amount of money), especially of something whose price changes often

   Synonym: custar

   O quilo de maçã está a dois euros.

   A kilogram of apples costs two euros.

10. to look (to give an appearance of being)

    Você está bonita.

    You look pretty.

11. to stand

    Aqui estou.

    Here I stand.

Usage notes

• See ser.

Conjugation

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:estar.

Derived terms

Related terms

• estábulo

See also

• ser
• ter
• haver

Spanish

Alternative forms

• tar (Latin America, nonstandard)

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish estar, inherited from Latin stāre (“stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (compare English stand). The preterite's origin is unclear, most likely generalized from the preterite of haber (“to have”), hub- (note that b and v are pronounced identically; compare the same development in andar and tener). Cognate with English state.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esˈtaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: es‧tar

Verb

estar (first-person singular present estoy, first-person singular preterite estuve, past participle estado)

1. (intransitive) to be (have a temporary or permanent location in space)

   ¿Dónde estás?

   Where are you?

   Estoy en casa.

   I am at home.

2. (intransitive) to be (denotes a copula, in a transient fashion)

   El tiempo estaba frío/caliente.

   The weather was cold/hot .

   ¿Estás feliz?

   Are you happy ?

3. to be (auxiliary verb for the progressive/continuous aspect, preceding the gerund of the verb)

   Ella está cantando.

   She is singing.

4. (intransitive) to be in a state (in a passive voice sense)

   Los vasos están rotos.

   The vases are broken. (In passive voice with estar, unlike haber, its past participle agrees with number and gender of the subject)

   Llegaron y vieron que el hotel estaba abandonado.

   They arrived and saw the hotel was abandoned.

5. (reflexive, followed by adjective) to be, stay (denotes a copula, in a transient fashion)

   Estense callados y quietos.

   Stay quiet and not moving.

6. (intransitive, with por) to be to be done, to be (still) undone:

   Esto todavía está por hacer.

   This is still to be done.

   Lo peor está por llegar.

   The worst part is yet to come.

7. (intransitive) to be in a long-term state (in specific idioms)

   estar muerto/a ― to be dead

   estar casado/a ― to be married (can also be ser casado)

   estar chico/a ― to be short (colloquially)

Usage notes

• See ser. Contrast also with quedar.

Conjugation

Despite having a vowel in the root, estar's conjugation matches dar in the present indicative and present subjunctive tenses, with none of the forms in those tenses being stressed on the root.

Derived terms

Related terms

Descendants

• → Hiligaynon: istar

See also

• ser

Further reading

• “estar”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014