Customer Reviews

Spanish Verbs: Ser and Estar (Hippocrene Language Studies)

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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I am of hispanic decent and this book explains the spanish speakers way of thinking in a nutshell. Written by two hispanics, this book is the only book you'll ever need to understand how to think when thinking in spanish. I as a high school student was mistaught like everyone else in my class on the two verbs Ser and Estar...and to my surprise the first pages referred to the often misteachings of these two verbs right from the start and retaught me what my 4 years of high school spanish never did teach me. If you are a serious spanish learner...buy this book. For $9 you can't take the chance not to. I have it in front of me now and I high light many spots in the book to refer to for future use...buy it. :)

The way this book explains the difference between ser and estar makes it so much easier to remember. It seems much more intuitive and logical when I think about why I am using one over the other. I struggled with this concept before this book and I would highly recommend this to anyone who is learning spanish on their own.

This book will successfully clarify any queries that you have with regards to the correct usage of the verbs ser and estar, which traditionally present difficulty for learners of the Spanish language. When I bought this book a few years ago I was quite surprised with the level of detail and the approach of the authors used to clarify this grammatical difficulty. The explanations are in English with examples in Spanish. The approach of the logic of usage is from Spanish to English rather than from English to Spanish which most textbooks use and perhaps that's where the confusion begins. It does clarify the notion that Ser and Estar are sometimes interchangeable (and they are not) and using one or other will definitely change the meaning of a phrase. This is the only book that I have come across thus far dedicated to the analysis and usage of these two verbs. If you are looking for an accurate and concise clarification of the usage of these verbs this book is highly recommended and not to mention is very economical.

I think the "whatness" vs "howness" explanation is extremely logical. However, a beginning Spanish student may find this a bit vague. Beginners need more detail than just "whatness" vs "howness." I think the "whereness" explanation for estar is very good, but it has one minor flaw. If one talks about the location of an event, one uses ser, not estar.

Brandon Simpson

This book was recommended by someone on the AP Spanish listserv, and while it is a fine book for high school and university students, I was disappointed that it wasn't more thorough. One of the great difficulties with Spanish grammar for English-speakers is understanding the differences between the uses of fue and era, and this book doesn't deal with that at all. I am disappointed that the book is so elementary.

Two of the hardest Spanish verbs to use and understand are SER and ESTAR. Even when you ask a native speaker why they use one or the other, most can't tell you. They say, "You just have to learn from experience." With this book, that is no longer true.

This has the best explanation I have seen on these two words and how and why they are used. No more guessing and being corrected. No more misstatements. Well, you'll probably still make mistakes, but they'll be fewer after this book. It also demonstrates how improperly using one or the other can completely change and confuse a conversation.

As an example, "estoy (ESTAR) perdido" means "I have lost my way and need directions." On the other hand, "soy (SER) perdido" means "I am a lost soul with no moral compass." There are many more examples of how using one or the other changes the meaning profoundly. Knowing how and why to use them really helps the non-native speaker avoid errors. I would also recommend this for native speakers so that THEY will finally understand the WHY, and not just the WHAT.