15 Adjectives that change meaning with ser and estar

We return to one of the most important grammatical topics in Spanish. The ser and estar!

If there were a ranking of the most relevant verbs in Spanish, ser and estar would be in the top 5 without a doubt.

Why are these verbs so important? 

The answer is simple: they are used for a lot of things!

Although we will make a brief summary of their most important uses, today we will not focus on this.

We are going to talk about a super interesting topic that usually gives many headaches to our dear Spanish students: adjectives that change meaning with ser and estar.

In fact, there are many adjectives that can be used with both verbs and that have totally different meanings with each one.

We will see all of these adjectives in sentences and examples, so that you understand them well.

Many of these adjectives are so uses such as, good, bad, rich o ready. The music is taken from words that we use every day, so it is necessary that you learn their correct use with both ser and estar.

You will see that most are adjectives of people, but some can also be used to refer to things, places, animals or situations.

In another section we will also see some colors that express ideas curious with ser and estar. 

At the end, as always, we recapitulate everything we learned with some exercises with ser and estar and adjectives that change their meaning.

Without further ado, let's get started!

To be? Review of some uses

The verbs ser and estar in Spanish are known as copulative verbs.

What is a copulative verb?

They are verbs that express characteristics or states.

But these verbs have more uses. In our school, Hispania, escuela de español, we give a lot of importance to these verbs and the implementation of all their uses so that your Spanish sounds very natural.

Do you want to speak so fluently like a native spanish and use the verbs ser and estar like them?

If so, check out our face-to-face Spanish courses o online Spanish courses. They will help you master Spanish with expert teachers at the best school in Valencia 🤗.

Some of the main uses of verb to be we have:

Identity: designates the name of someone or something or what it is.

• For example: "She es well. Es my cat".

Spanish citizenship: the origin of a person, it can be the country, the city, the neighborhood, etc. It is used with the preposition de (ser + de) or with the adjective of nationality.

• For example: "Julian is Valencia. He es Valencian".

Job Titles: a person's job.

• For example: «Lucia es teacher».

Descriptions: we use person adjectives to describe both physique and character.

• For example: «Paco es a seducer, es "very handsome and intelligent."

Time and hours: we can mark what time it is and talk about the seasons, the years, the days of the week or the months.

• For example: "Today es Thursday. Es the year 2023 and right now whether they are two o'clock in the afternoon".

On the other hand, with the verb to be can we talk about:

Location: indicate the location of a person, animal or thing.

• For example: «Am en House".  

Moods: we can express temporary emotional states. 

• For example: «Am happy".

Estar + gerund: with this periphrasis, we express unfinished actions in process.

• For example: «Right now, Laura is cleaning table".

Time: we can also express time with the verb estar, but this time it is always used in the first person plural and with the preposition a to talk about days of the week or dates (we are) and en for months or years (we are in).

• For example: «We are at Monday. We are in September".

Adjectives that change meaning with ser and estar 

Did you know these uses? They are basic so that your Spanish sounds correct.

Now, yes, let's get to today's central topic. The adjectives with meaning which changes depending on whether they go with the verb ser or estar.

Let's see a total of 15 adjectives + 4 colored adjectives.

We are ready? Well let's go get them!

Good

Several meanings of SER GOOD.

On the one hand, it refers to the goodness of a person. That is to say, he has a good heart.

The other meaning of good with the verb to be is that a thing or food it has quality or is it healthy.

For example:

• "She It is good"I would never hurt anyone."
• «This old wine it's good».

BE GOOD It refers to two things. If we talk about a person, it means that he is very pretty and attractive. If we talk about a food, it means that it has good taste.

For example:

• «Since she goes to the gym, she it's good».
• "These oranges They are very good».

Malo

TO BE BAD It is just the opposite of the previous adjective. You can express that a person has evil and bad intentions or that a thing or food is poor quality or harmful to health.

For example:

• "The it is bad"He enjoys making fun of people."
• «This dessert must to be bad For health, it has a lot of sugar.

TO BE BAD refers to a person who is sick or to a meal that has Bad taste or what is expired.

Let's see some examples of meaning de to be bad: 

• «Today Luis is not coming to work, it's bad».
• «This yogurt it's bad. Normal, it expired a month ago.

Dry

If a person is very would when speaking, what does he use few words and expresses few emotions, we say IT IS DRY.

For example: 

• «This clerk makes me uncomfortable. It is very dry».

BE DRY is used to say that the surface of something or someone's body has no No water.

For example: 

• «Yesterday my shirt got wet because of the rain, but today it is dry».

Open

This is one of the good adjectives of a person.

A person who IT IS OPEN is a person who has a flexible mind, who admits ideas different from his own, a person with whom you can talk about everything and who does not try to impose his ideas. 

It is also said about people who like to experiment and try new things.

For example:

• «I love talking to you because you are open crazy".

BE OPEN It is mainly used when people open the doors of a house or a place, which means that you can pass. It is also used with windows.

For example:

• «Doesn't the store it's open? How odd! At these hours she is always open.

Cerrado

BE CLOSED It is said when a person has very clear ideas and it is difficult to get away from them and change their plans. 

This is a person a little inflexible. It is also said of shy people that they don't express their feelings.

For example: 

• «Lola has a hard time making new friends because It is quite closed».

BE CLOSED refers to the doors, windows or buildings that they are not open.

For example: 

• «Today is Sunday and that's why school is closed».

Rico

BE RICH expresses a person who has a lot of money.

For example: 

• «Throughout his life he earned a lot of money and now is rich».

BE RICH is one of flavor adjectives of the foods that are most used. It means that a food is delicious.

For example:

• «This pizza it's delicious. Where is she from? ".

Proud

BE PROUD It has a slightly negative meaning. It is said of a person that you love too much to herself. 

Also from a person who never admits his mistakes, who is believed to be always right.

For example: 

• «I don't like this guy, he's always bragging about his skills. He is very proud».

TO BE PROUD Instead it is something positive. It is to feel a sensation of satisfaction for something good what we have done or for something we have.

For example: 

• "My son, I am very proud of you. "You have become a great person."

Greater

BEING OLDER It is used when a person, objectively, has a advanced age and no longer young. It is also used to compare the ages of two people and indicate who is older.

For example:

• «My grandmother is 80 years old, is older».
• "James is older than Peter.

BEING OLDER refers more to the feeling that a person has about his physique. 

Maybe he's still young but he feels older because you don't have much energy, you have frequent physical pain, or your skin is very wrinkled.

For example: 

• «They told me to play a soccer game, but I'm not going to go. I I'm older for that intensity.

Fresh

¿What does the adjective mean fresh?

If we say that someone or something IT'S FRESHmeans that it's new or that has characteristics or ideas original. 

For example: 

• «I loved this film. It's very fresh"I had never seen anything like it."

BE FRESH refers to the fact that a thing is recently and new, and it is the best time to enjoy it.

For example:

• «Now that the topic of AI (Artificial Intelligence) It's fresh"I'm going to take the opportunity to learn about it."

Attentive

A person SHE IS ATTENTIVE when is courteous, kind and has consideration for others.

For example:

• "She was so attentive and kind that I felt as if we had known each other all our lives.

BE AWARE refers to being very concentrated in a task or in something someone does or says. 

For example: 

• "Let him study, now that he's finally be attentive».

Awake

BE AWAKEN refers to a person who is very cunning and clever to make a living, start a business or solve problems.

For example:

• «Rebeca has already opened 3 companies. She always hhas been awakened for business".

TO BE AWAKE It is very easy to understand, when we are not asleep, our brain is awake and conscious.

For example: 

• «I hear the baby's screams, now is awake».

Grave

¿What is BE SERIOUS? It refers to a situation being quite bad or dramatic.

For example:

• «After the earthquake, the situation on the island It was very serious».

Instead, BE SERIOUS refers to a person who has a very bad state of health, between life and death.

For example:

• «They are going to operate urgently, is very serious».

Ready

BE SMART It is a very good characteristic of a person. Ready has the meaning of being intelligent.

For example: 

• "She she is very smart, is able to pass exams just by studying one day before.

BE PREPARED means to be prepared to do something.

For example:

• «Let the game begin, I'm ready».

Interested

El meaning of adjective interested with the verb to be it has a negative connotation in people. 

An interested person searches extract a personal benefit of someone, even if it is harmful to the other person. 

You love someone for something they have, like money, beauty, or fame, and not for who that person really is.

For example:

• "I realized that are you interested"You only call me so I can leave you money."

BE INTERESTED es show interest for something that you like or that catches your attention.

For example:

• «Tell me more about your trip, I'm interested».

Boring

¿What is the meaning of SER BORED?

A person who is boring is a person not fun, lacking charisma. Nobody wants to spend time with boring people, don't be like that!

For example:

• «I had a date with this girl but it was very boring. "I don't think we will meet again."

TO BE BORED It is a state of mind. It means your time passes slowly, no fun and with boredom.

For example:

• «I've been waiting at the consultation for an hour. I'm bored».

What do you think of these 15 adjectives that change meaning with ser and estar? They are adjectives that are used very frequently, it will be good for you to know them.

So that you have them more visually accessible, we have prepared the following table for you as a summary 😉.