Answers
Jan 23, 2015 - 04:03 PM
It may be because they are all fixed objects -- that is, their position doesn't change. It's different from asking "Donde esta Maria?" She could be anywhere, but a building, short of an earthquake, isn't going to move.
Jan 23, 2015 - 05:14 PM
Seems incorrect to me, even if there is an event in the museum or if the museum is not moving, it's still a place, and that should be está. Curious to hear from Fluenz on that one.
Jan 24, 2015 - 01:56 PM
I think it's because the location of the 'museo' most probably isn't going to change any time soon. therefore its location is definite(ser) like your name or the precise time of day, not temporary/liable to change(estar) like the weather or feelings; anything capricious
Jan 24, 2015 - 02:04 PM
In that case you would use ser for any place that is not moving, like a street or an address. Ser is used for an innate quality and for events, and that's it, so El museo está a la derecha, y el museo es bueno.
Jan 24, 2015 - 03:28 PM
Portuguese uses both 'ser' and 'estar', and the explanation that Kiernon gives is what I learned from Fluenz in my Portuguese sessions. But it's Portuguese, so I don't know if it can be applied toward Spanish.
Jan 27, 2015 - 04:27 AM
Hi Fargo, we talk about the use of "ser" for definite locations in level 1 session 28. So, we can use "ser" for locations when we are talking about a location that is fixed and unlikely to move, like a hotel, a museum or a stadium. This is one of the infamous "ser/estar" grey areas. The good thing is that in this case you can use both. So your sentence would also be absolutely fine like this:
No sé dónde está el museo
But, if you have the sentence:
I don't know where Pedro is
It's always with "estar" because Pedro moves around and doesn't have a definite location. So it's:
No sé dónde está Pedro
In the tutorial we tell you that if you always use "estar" for locations you will be absolutely fine. But we teach you the use of "ser" for definite locations so that you don't get surprised if you hear it in the streets.
No sé dónde está el museo
But, if you have the sentence:
I don't know where Pedro is
It's always with "estar" because Pedro moves around and doesn't have a definite location. So it's:
No sé dónde está Pedro
In the tutorial we tell you that if you always use "estar" for locations you will be absolutely fine. But we teach you the use of "ser" for definite locations so that you don't get surprised if you hear it in the streets.
Jan 27, 2015 - 10:41 AM
There's probably a different usage in different countries too, because my Mexican friends say that "No se donde es el museo" is understood, but sounds "strange". There are probably multi-volume books written on the subject lol!
Jan 27, 2015 - 04:23 PM
From my "Practice Makes Perfect" book -
When to use SER: nationalities, professions, marital status, origins of people / things, possession, time, days, dates, what something is made from, geographical location, permanent characteristics, inherent (non-changing) characteristics, permanent nature, impersonal expressions, climate / permanent weather, passive sentences.
When to use ESTAR: temporary place or position, description of temporary / changeable states and characteristics, temporary feelings, emotions, temporary illness, as a greeting, weather (but not permanent climate features), with com (with) + noun (e.g. Eles estão com fome - They are hungry).
Again, this is for Portuguese. I would actually use FICAR for hotel, restaurant locations, etc. - Onde fica o restaurante novo?
When to use SER: nationalities, professions, marital status, origins of people / things, possession, time, days, dates, what something is made from, geographical location, permanent characteristics, inherent (non-changing) characteristics, permanent nature, impersonal expressions, climate / permanent weather, passive sentences.
When to use ESTAR: temporary place or position, description of temporary / changeable states and characteristics, temporary feelings, emotions, temporary illness, as a greeting, weather (but not permanent climate features), with com (with) + noun (e.g. Eles estão com fome - They are hungry).
Again, this is for Portuguese. I would actually use FICAR for hotel, restaurant locations, etc. - Onde fica o restaurante novo?
Jan 27, 2015 - 05:08 PM
I don't know why I didn't check my books already.. So for Practice makes perfect for spanish says:
SER: Identity of the subject (person, thing or event), someone's ocupation, essential or inherent qualifies not likely to change such as nationality,moral attributes and religion, characteristics of physcial appearance and personality, relationships (ellas son mis hermanas), time, place and date of an event, origin, possession, and the materials objects are made of, with the preposition "de", quantity and price, with the passive voice construction ser + participle (+ por), with impersonal expressions.
ESTAR: location, PERMANENT, TEMPORARY, or short term, real, or imaginary, temporary physical conditions, temporary mental conditions and moods, temporary traits or qualities, temporary situations with the preposition "de", with the -ando, -iendo forms of the gerundio.
"The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice" says the same thing. It says "estar is used to express location or position, whether permanent or temporary".
So I think that grammatically, if you want to be perfect, you should use "estar" and not "es" in the example you gave, but in reality Fluenz is saying that you may hear the "wrong" way in the street, and it's fine, you will understand and will be understood. If you were to take a Spanish exam, though, you should use estar in that case.
SER: Identity of the subject (person, thing or event), someone's ocupation, essential or inherent qualifies not likely to change such as nationality,moral attributes and religion, characteristics of physcial appearance and personality, relationships (ellas son mis hermanas), time, place and date of an event, origin, possession, and the materials objects are made of, with the preposition "de", quantity and price, with the passive voice construction ser + participle (+ por), with impersonal expressions.
ESTAR: location, PERMANENT, TEMPORARY, or short term, real, or imaginary, temporary physical conditions, temporary mental conditions and moods, temporary traits or qualities, temporary situations with the preposition "de", with the -ando, -iendo forms of the gerundio.
"The Ultimate Spanish Review and Practice" says the same thing. It says "estar is used to express location or position, whether permanent or temporary".
So I think that grammatically, if you want to be perfect, you should use "estar" and not "es" in the example you gave, but in reality Fluenz is saying that you may hear the "wrong" way in the street, and it's fine, you will understand and will be understood. If you were to take a Spanish exam, though, you should use estar in that case.
Jan 27, 2015 - 06:20 PM
For a little reinforcement, Deborah R. Lemon says, "You may have heard that Ser is used for things which are permanent and Estar is used for things which are temporary. This is an over-simplification and not a good way to think of these verbs because you will end up with a lot of exceptions and confusion.
Try to forget you ever heard that. It is better to remember that Ser pertains to Identity (with all of its elements) and that Estar pertains to States of Being: Condition, Location, and Motion (the Present Progressive.)"
http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/servse...
Try to forget you ever heard that. It is better to remember that Ser pertains to Identity (with all of its elements) and that Estar pertains to States of Being: Condition, Location, and Motion (the Present Progressive.)"
http://www.drlemon.com/Grammar/servse...