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The Spanish copulas are ser and estar.The latter developed as follows: stare → *estare → estar. The copula ser developed from two Latin verbs. Thus its inflectional paradigm is a combination: most of it derives from svm (to be) but the present subjunctive appears to come from sedeo (to sit) via the Old Spanish verb seer.
Similarly, the participle agrees with the subject when it is used with ser to form the "true" passive voice (e.g. La carta fue escrita ayer 'The letter was written [got written] yesterday.'), and also when it is used with estar to form a "passive of result", or stative passive (as in La carta ya está escrita 'The letter is already written.').
Estar generally focuses on the condition of the subject, and specifically on qualities that include: Physical condition; Feelings, emotions, and states of mind; Appearance; In English, the sentence "The boy is boring" uses a different adjective than "The boy is bored". In Spanish, the difference is made by the choice of ser or estar.
The present progressive is formed by first conjugating the verb estar or seguir, depending on context, to agree with the subject, and then attaching a gerund of the verb that follows. The past (imperfect) progressive simply requires the estar or seguir to be conjugated, depending on context, in imperfect, with respect to the subject.
Estar and ser can be confusing. If I say yo estoy estando [-something] or yo estoy siendo [-something], the "somethings" would have to agree with the usage of estar and ser respectively. If you wanted to say, "I am being good", you might say yo estoy estando bueno. (I'm not totally sure that's a proper example, and it sounds kind of awkward.)
The dictionary form always has the vowel, not the diphthong, because, in the infinitive form, the stress is on the ending, not the stem. Exceptionally, the -u- of j u gar (u-ue -gar, -jugar) and the -i- of adqu i rir and inqu i rir (i-ie) also are subject to diphthongization ( juega , etc.; adquiere , etc.).
Estar Avia, passenger charter airline based in Russia; eSTAR project, multi-agent system that aims to implement a true heterogeneous network of robotic telescopes for automated observing; Navistar eStar, electric van by Navistar International; One of the Romance copula forms (i.e. the verb "to be") ESTAR Base, the Eastman Kodak brand of BOPET film
The two subjunctives have their origins in Latin; from the past perfect indicative came the -ra form, and from the past perfect subjunctive came the -se form. [62] Both subjunctives are found in Spain, but the -se one is almost extinct or much rarer in Latin America, where it is seen as a characteristic of the Spanish of Spain; Latin American ...