The copula or copulae (the verb or verbs meaning "to be") in all Romance languages derive from the Latin verbs SVM and STO. The former was the copular verb "to be", and the latter mainly meant "to stand", and was sometimes translatable as "to be". When Latin developed into the Romance languages, the use of STO expanded, and encroached on SVM's territory. This article deals with the exact distinction between the two verbs in the languages in which they exist.

See Copula for information on other languages, including English.

Notes on the use of Latin words:

• We have followed the usual practice of quoting Latin verbs in the first person singular of the present indicative. In other words, SVM is literally "I am", rather than "to be". The infinitives are ESSE and STARE.
• Although it is normal to use lower case when writing Latin in modern times, this article, dealing as it does with etymology, presents Latin in the capital letters used by the Romans. Nor have we used modern innovations such as U, J, ligatures, macrons or breves.

Evolution of meaning

In English, it is possible to say "there stands..." instead of "there is..." in certain contexts. In Latin too, it became common to eschew SVM in favour of STO and say where things "stood" instead of where they "were". With time, it became common to use this verb to express other states.

In Castilian/Spanish

See also Spanish language, Spanish grammar and Spanish verbs.

The Spanish copulae developed as follows:

• ESSE → éssere → ésser → *eser → ser
• STARE → *estare → estar

If we look back to the early part of the second millennium, in texts such as the Cantar de Mio Cid, ser was still used mostly as in Latin, and there was little place for estar; we can see sentences like Es pagado, e davos su amor, "He is satisfied, and he gives you his favour", where modern Spanish would have something like Queda contento, or Está satisfecho, y le da a usted su favor.

As the centuries went by, estar spread in use. Today, ser is used to express the fundamental nature, identity or characteristics of something — what it really is, whilst estar expresses the state something happens to be in. Indeed, ser is etymologically related to "essence" and "is", and estar with "state", "status", "standing", "stance" and "stay".

The verb quedar (which also has the specific meanings of "to remain", "to be as a result" and others) is often used in a similar way to estar. It derives from the Latin QVIETO (QVIETARE in the infinitive), "to rest".

Nuance

• Es sucio = "He's dirty" (i.e. "He's a dirty person" — characteristic)
• Está sucio = "He's dirty" (i.e. "He has some dirt on him" — state)

• Es abierta = "She's open" (i.e. "She's an open sort of person" — characteristic)
• Está abierta = "It's open" (probably referring to a door or window — state)

• Es triste = "He/she/it is sad" (i.e. gloomy — characteristic)
• Está triste = "He/she is sad" (i.e. feeling down — state)

• ¿Cómo eres? = "What are you like?" (i.e. "describe yourself" — characteristics)
• ¿Cómo estás? = "How are you?" (i.e. "how are you doing?" — state)

With adjectives referring to beauty and the like, ser means "to be", and estar means "to look".

• ¡Qué guapa es! = "Wow, she's so beautiful" (characteristic)
• ¡Qué guapa está! = "Wow, she's looking so beautiful / she's done up so nicely" (state)

Note that the differentiation between "nature" and "state" makes sense when talking about the states of life and death: Está vivo (He is alive). Está muerto (He is dead). Note that estar is used for both alive and dead, since they are both states, although being dead is considered a permanent state.

Ser is used when stating the stage of life at which a person is. The old, the young, etc are seen as groups that one can belong to. It is a question of identity:

• Es viejo = "he's old"
• Es un viejo = "he's an old man"
• Cuando era niña = "when she was a girl"

However, age can also be presented not as a matter of identity but a state:

• Está viejo = "he's looking old" / "he's got old"

The use of estar gives a certain special nuance to some verbs. For example, estar guapa, though it has the sense of "to be beautiful", also emphasizes the use of make-up and clothes to create a beautiful look. Ser sucio instead of the more usual estar sucio means to be the sort of person who is likely to be dirty.

The adjective loco ("mad", "crazy", "insane") is always used with estar in Spain, as the implication is that the person "has gone mad" (i.e. a change of state). It is possible to give it a permanent nuance, but only by using it as a noun: es un loco, "he's a madman". Ser loco is used in Latin America, however.

The expression como una cabra (with the implied loco omitted) is used with estar to mean "mad as a hatter", "crazy as a loon". Ser como una cabra would literally mean "to be like a goat".

Ser is used with adjectives of fundamental belief, nationality, sex, intelligence, etc. The use of estar with francés ("French") sounds quite odd to native Spanish speakers, as though it meant "to feel a bit French". Similarly, no estar católico does not mean "to no longer be Catholic", but is a colloquial expression meaning "to feel under the weather". Note how this is a state.

People studying Spanish as a second language often believe that the difference between the two verbs is "permanent" versus "temporary", but in the Spanish mind, the difference is "essential nature" versus "state or condition". The "essential nature" of things does sometimes change, and this is reflected in the language. For example, someone who had been depressed for a prolonged period, and then had a life changing experience like a new career or long-term relationship, might say ahora soy feliz, meaning "I am happy now".

Specific interpretations requiring ser

A special use of ser, which expresses neither a nature nor a state but an action, is the formation of the passive voice:

• Han sido asesinados = "They have been murdered"
• Serás juzgada = "You will be judged"

Note that the Spanish passive voice is rarer than in English, with other turns of phrase being used instead.

Specific interpretations requiring estar

Past participles

Estar is almost always used with adjectives that derive from past participles of verbs since the use of ser would sound like a verb in the passive voice. Such adjectives in any case generally refer to states:

• La frontera está cerrada = "The border is closed"
• Estoy casado = "I'm married" (Soy casado is also possible; note that "I'm single", "I'm widowed", etc all use ser, which shows that the only reason casado usually takes estar is that it is a participle, and not because Spanish speakers consider marriage to be some sort of temporary state!)

A special example of this tendency is what happens with words indicating prohibition and suchlike. If an adjective not deriving from a verb were used, then the meaning would definitely require ser. To say the same thing with a past participle, estar (or quedar) is required, in order to differentiate it from the use of ser with a past participle implying an action expressed in the passive voice:

• Es ilegal fumar en este vuelo = "It is illegal to smoke on this flight" (straightforward case of ser)
• Está prohibido fumar en este vuelo = "It is forbidden to smoke on this flight" (estar necessary to distinguish the sentence from the following one)
• Ha sido prohibido fumar en este vuelo = "It has been forbidden (i.e. made against the rules) to smoke on this flight" (This is an example of the passive voice. This use of ser in the perfect tense is similar to the use of estar in the present tense; the former expressing an event in the past, the latter expressing its current effect.)

This fine nuance is not encountered in other Romance languages, which do not go to such lengths to distinguish between passives and similar-sounding phrases.

Location

Estar is used to refer to physical location. In the Spanish mind, location is a state, and therefore goes with estar, even in those cases (e.g. Madrid está en España "Madrid is in Spain") when one might think that it is something so permanent and fundamental that it could be logical to use ser. With immobile things, quedar is sometimes used instead of estar, especially when there is a reference to a length of time, or a remaining distance, e.g.:

• ¿A cuánto queda la playa? / ¿A qué distancia queda la playa? = "How far away is the beach?"
• Aún queda lejos = "There's still quite some way" / "It's still far"
• El bar queda a cinco minutitos = "The bar's just five minutes away"

However, ser can sometimes occur with words such as aquí, which can mislead learners into thinking that physical location can be expressed with ser. In fact, the verb in this case identifies the place rather than expressing where it is. For example, one might say to a taxi driver the following phrases, to indicate that you have arrived:

• Está aquí = "It's here"
• Es aquí = "It's here"

The difference becomes clear if aquí is changed to esta calle:

• Está en esta calle = "It's in this street"
• Es esta calle = "It's this street"

Es aquí and es esta calle express the idea that "this is the place", a concept quite different from what is expressed by estar.

The only case in which true location is expressed by ser is when an event rather than a physical thing is referred to:

• ¿Dónde es la fiesta? = "Where is the party?"
• ¿Dónde está la sala de fiestas? = "Where is the discothèque?"

Words requiring ser

Ser is always used when the complement is a noun or pronoun, whether or not the speaker intended to express a fundamental essence (though in practice they do tend to express this):

• Es una persona sucia = "He's a dirty person"
• Es una persona abierta = "She's an open person"
• Soy la víctima = "I'm the victim"

However, it is not always easy to know what is a noun. For example, pez is a noun meaning "fish", but estar pez is a colloquial expression meaning to be "rubbish" or "useless" at a given activity.

Words requiring estar

Estar must be used when the complement is bien or mal, no matter what meaning is intended.

• Este libro está muy bien = Este libro es muy bueno = "This book is very good" (nature)
• Estoy muy mal = Estoy muy malo = "I'm feeling terrible, ill" (state)

Total change of meaning with specific adjectives

There are many adjectives that change in meaning entirely depending on the verb used, sometimes meaning almost the opposite. Note that in each case the meaning which is more of a "nature" goes with ser and the meaning which is more of a "state" goes with estar.

Happiness

Although "sadness" is expressed fairly straightforwardly with triste, "happiness" is a little trickier. The quality of being joyous, lively and happy is expressed with ser alegre. This can describe people, music, colours, etc. Estar alegre expresses the state of being merry, often in practice actually meaning "drunk", "tipsy".

A person who is fundamentally happy in life is said to ser feliz; indeed la felicidad is that "happiness" that humans strive for. Although in the harsh real world this happiness often turns out to be a transitory state, a person may nevertheless declare soy feliz as a statement of optimism that goes beyond the description of today's mood that is expressed by any phrase with estar. As for such moods, they can be expressed with estar feliz, but this adjective is not really the appropriate one; estar contento is the better way of saying that one is at the present time feeling happy, content or glad.

When not a state but a change of state is referred to, the expression is quedar contento or alegrarse: quedó muy contenta cuando le dije que había ganado = "she was very glad when I told her she had won"; me alegro de que hayáis llegado = "I'm glad you've all come".

In the extract from the Cantar de Mio Cid above, one can see that "to be happy" a thousand years ago was ser pagado.

In Catalan

The Catalan copulae developed as follows:

• ESSE → éssere → ésser → esser → ser
• STARE → *estare → estar

The last three forms of the first verb survive in modern Catalan. Ser is considered the most standard, followed by ésser, then esser.

The distinction between the two copulae is very similar to the distinction in Spanish, with the following exceptions, amongst others:

• Expressions such as "it is allowed" use either ser or avoid the copula completely and use the impersonal pronoun es instead. So, está permitido corresponds to és permès or es permet.
• Ser is often used to express location.

In French

Old French had estre (ESSE → essere → *essre → estre) and ester (STARE → *estare → estar → ester), and distinguished between then in a similar way to other Romance languages. With phonetic evolution, the forms of each verb tended to be confused with one another, with the result that estre finally absorbed ester; around the same time, most words beginning with est- changed to ét- or êt-. The modern form of the verb is être. One trace of ester is the past participle: instead of the *étu one would expect, we find été — just what we would expect from ester/éter.

Ester also survives in the infinitive in the set phrases ester en justice and ester en jugement, which translate the Latin term STARE IN IVDICIO meaning "to appear in court", "to stand before the court". Ester en justice has come to mean "to file a lawsuit", i.e. to appear in court as the active party.

The English verb "to stay" comes directly from ester.

In Provençal, the copula is èsser or èstre.

In Haitian

Haitian, a creole deriving from French, has a reputation as being rather linguistically exotic when compared to French and the other Romance languages; and it lives up to this reputation with its copula system. It has three forms of the copula: se, ye, and the lack of any word (whose position we will indicate with a placeholder "_", just for purposes of illustration).

Although no textual record exists of Haitian at its earliest stages of development from French, se is obviously derived from French c'est (IPA [sε]), which is the normal French contraction of ce (it) and the copula est (third-person singular of the present indicative of the verb être, ultimately from SVM).

The derivation of ye is less obvious; but we can assume that the French source was il est ("he/it is"), which, in rapidly spoken French, is very commonly pronounced as y est (IPA [jε]).

The use of a null copula is unknown in French, and it is thought to be an innovation from the early days when Haitian was first developing as a Romance-based pidgin. Coincidentally, Latin also sometimes used a null copula.

There appears to be no trace of STO.

Distinction between se, ye and null copula

Which of se/ye/_ is used in any given copula clause depends on complex syntactic factors that we can superficially summarize in these four rules:

First: Use _ (i.e., no word at all) in declarative sentences where the complement is an adjective phrase, prepositional phrase, or adverb phrase:

• Li te _ an Ayiti. (She past-tense in Haiti; "she was in Haiti")
• Liv-la _ jon. (Book-the yellow; "the book is yellow")
• Timoun-yo _ lakay. (Kids-the home; "the kids are [at] home")

Second: Use se when the complement is a noun phrase. But note that whereas other verbs come *after* any tense/mood/aspect particles (like pa to mark negation, or te to explicitly mark past tense, or ap to mark progressive aspect), se comes *before* any such particles:

• Chal se ekriven. (Charles is writer.)
• Chal se pa ekriven. (Charles is not writer; cf. With the verb kouri ("run"): Chal pa kouri, not Chal kouri pa.)
• Chal, ki se ekriven, pa vini. (Charles, who is writer, not come.)

Third: Use se where English or French have a "dummy-it" subject:

• Se mwen! ("It's me!", French C'est moi!)
• Se pa fasil. ("It's not easy", colloquial French C'est pas facile)

And finally: use the other copula form, ye, in situations where the sentence's syntax leaves the copula at the end of a phrase:

• Kijan ou ye? ("How you are?")
• Pou kimoun liv-la te ye? (Of who book-the past-tense is?; "Whose book was it?")
• M pa konnen kimoun li ye. (I not know who he is; "I don't know who he is.")
• Se yon ekriven Chal ye (It's a writer Charles is; "Charles is a writer!"; cf. French C'est un écrivain qu'il est)

The above is, however, only a superficial analysis. For more details on the syntactic conditions as well as on Haitian-specific copula constructions such as se kouri m ap kouri (It's run I progressive run; "I'm really running!"), see the grammar sketch in Catherine Howe's Haitian Creole Newspaper Reader (which is the source for most of the Haitian data in this article), and see also Valdman & Philippe's textbook Ann Pale Kreyol: An Introductory Course in Haitian Creole.

In Italian

The Italian copulae did not undergo the same development as in other languages, and conserve the Vulgar Latin forms essere and stare.

Essere is the main copula. Stare refers to state rather than essence, but more narrowly than in Spanish. Essere is used for almost all cases in which English uses "to be". It therefore makes sense to concentrate on the few uses of stare.

• Stare means "to be", "to be feeling", or "to appear" with bene, male, meglio, come?, etc.: Come stai? "How are you?", Sto bene "I'm well."
• Stare is used to form continuous forms of tenses: sto aspettando "I am waiting", Stavo parlando con... "I was speaking with..."
• Stare's past participle stato has replaced that of essere, and so stato is used for "been" in all senses.
• Stare can mean "to stand" (usually stare in piedi) but this is common only in the expression stare per, "to stand for" i.e. in abbreviations.
• Starci (lit. To stay in it) means "to fit"
• Stare can be an alternative to restare "to stay"
• Stare is occasionally "to be located". This is very common in the south of Italy.

In Portuguese

The Portuguese copulae developed as in Spanish:

• ESSE → éssere → ésser → *eser → ser
• STARE → *estare → estar

The Portuguese distinction between the two verbs is very similar to Catalan. Compared to Spanish, estar is a little less used. There is perhaps a little more of a concept of permanent versus temporary, rather than essence versus state.

The main difference between Spanish and Portuguese is that Portuguese is in the interpretation of the concept of state versus essence and in the generalisations one way or another that are made in certain constructions. For example, Portuguese does not require estar with past participles; in this case it follows the general rule regarding state/essence.

• A cadeira é [feita] de madeira = "The chair is made of wood"

The word meaning "made" is in square brackets here, as it possible to omit it. The equivalent Spanish phrase would have to switch to the use of estar if this word were included.

• Eu sou casado = "I'm married"

The same applies in sentences such as the following, which use ser for the passive voice, with no special exeptions for prohibitions and the like:

• É proibido fumar neste vôo = "No smoking on this flight" (lit. "it is forbidden to...")

Portuguese counts location as something fundamental, and accordingly uses ser, or the specific verb ficar:

• Lisboa fica em Portugal = "Lisbon is [located] in Portugual"
• Onde é/fica o apartamento dela? = "Where is her flat/apartment?"

Nuance

• É sujo = "It's dirty" (i.e. "It's a dirty place" — characteristic)
• Está sujo = "It's dirty" (i.e. "(today) The place is dirty" — state)

• É aberta = "She's open" (i.e. "She's an open sort of person", this sentence can have a pejorative meaning — characteristic)
• Está aberta = "It's open" (probably referring to a door or window — state)

• Ele é triste = "He is sad" (i.e. gloomy — characteristic)
• (Ele) está triste = "He is sad" (i.e. feeling down — state)

• Como és? = "What are you like?" (i.e. "describe yourself" — characteristics)
• Como estás? = "How are you?" (i.e. "how are you doing?" — state)

With adjectives referring to beauty and the like, ser means "to be", and estar means "to look".

• Que linda ela é! = "Wow, she's so beautiful" (characteristic)
• Que linda ela está! = "Wow, she's looking so beautiful" (state)

As in Spanish, the differentiation between "nature" and "state" makes sense when talking about the states of life and death: Está vivo (He is alive). Está morto (He is dead).

Unlike Spanish, louco (loco in Spanish) can be used with "ser" or "estar", giving different meanings:

• És louco! = "You're mad!" (characteristic)
• Estás louco! = "You've gone mad!" (state)

Ser is used with adjectives of fundamental belief (Não sou católico, I'm not Catholic), nationality (És português, You are Portuguese), sex (É homem, He's a man), intelligence (Somos espertos, We are smart), etc.

Due to Catholicism being the main religion in most Lusophone countries, so it is very common, not being Catholic is unusual. Then the use of católico (Catholic) with estar has another meaning (figurative):

• Eu não estou muito católico = "I'm not in a good way" (perhaps feeling drunk or ill)
• O tempo hoje não está muito católico = "The weather's not nice today"

With this exception, due to its different meaning, estar can not be used for nationality, sex, or intelligence, but one can say Estou abrasileirado (I'm Brazilian-influenced — state) or Estás americanizado (You are Americanised — state).

In Romanian

A fi is the copula in Romanian.

In Romansh

Esser means "to be", and Star is "to reside".

Conjugation

Here, only simple, one-word forms are given. All languages below also possess numerous compound tenses.

In Latin

SVM

• Non-finite forms:
  • Present infinitive: ESSE
  • Future infinitive: FORE (FVTVRVM ESSE)
  • Future participle: FVTVRVS
  • Perfect infinitive: FVISSE
• Indicative:
  • Present: SVM, ES, EST, SVMVS, ESTIS, SVNT
  • Imperfect: ERAM, ERAS, ERAT, ERAMVS, ERATIS, ERANT
  • Future: ERO, ERIS, ERIT, ERIMVS, ERITIS, ERVNT
  • Perfect: FVI, FVISTI, FVIT, FVIMVS, FVISTIS, FVERVNT
  • Pluperfect: FVERAM, FVERAS, FVERAT, FVERAMVS, FVERATIS, FVERANT
  • Future anterior: FVERO, FVERIS, FVERIT, FVERIMVS, FVERITVS, FVERINT
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: SIM, SIS, SIT, SIMVS, SITIS, SINT
  • Imperfect: ESSEM, ESSES, ESSET, ESSEMVS, ESSETIS, ESSENT
  • Perfect: FVERIM, FVERIS, FVERIT, FVERIMVS, FVERITIS
  • Pluperfect: FVISSEM, FVISSES, FVISSET, FVISSEMVS, FVISSETIS, FVISSENT
• Imperative: ES, ESTE

STO

• Non-finite forms:
  • Present infinitive: STARE
  • Future participle: STATVRVS
  • Perfect infinitive: ?STETISSE
  • Gerund: STANDVM
  • Supine: STATV(M)
  • Present participle: STANS
• Indicative:
  • Present: STO, STAS, STAT, STAMVS, STATIS, STANT
  • Imperfect: STABAM, STABAS, STABAT, STABAMVS, STABATIS, STABANT
  • Future: ?STABO, ?STABIS, ?STABIT, ?STABIMVS, ?STABITIS, ?STABVNT
  • Perfect: STETI, STETISTI, STETIT, STETIMVS, STETISTIS, STETERVNT
  • Pluperfect: ?STETERAM, ?STETERAS, ?STETERAT, ?STETERAMVS, ?STETERATIS, ?STETERANT
  • Future anterior: ?STETERO, ?STETERIS, ?STETERIT, ?STETERIMVS, ?STETERITIS, ?STETERINT
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: STEM, STES, STET, STEMVS, STETIS, STENT
  • Imperfect: ?
  • Perfect: ?
  • Pluperfect: ?
• Imperative: ?

In Castilian/Spanish

SER

ESTAR

† Estar is usually made reflexive in the imperative.

In Catalan

SER/ÉSSER

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: ser/ésser
  • Gerund: sent/essent
  • Past participle: sigut (but estat from estar is usually used instead)
• Indicative:
  • Present: sóc, ets, és, som, sou, són
  • Imperfect: era, eres, era, érem, éreu, eren
  • Preterite: fui, fores, fou, fórem, fóreu, foren
  • Future: seré, seràs, serà, serem, sereu, seran
• Conditional:
  • seria, series, seria, seria, seríem, seríeu, serien / fóra, fores, fóra, fórem, fóreu, foren
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: sigui, siguis, sigui, siguem, sigueu, siguin
  • Imperfect: fos, fossis, fos, fóssim, fóssiu, fossin
• Imperative:
  • sigues, sigueu

ESTAR

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: estar
  • Gerund: estant
  • Past participle: estat
• Indicative:
  • Present: estic, estàs, està, estem, esteu, estan
  • Imperfect: estava, estaves, estava, estàvem, estàveu, estaven
  • Preterite: estiguí, estigueres, estigué, estiguérem, estiguéreu, estigueren
  • Future: estaré, estaràs, estarà, estarem, estareu, estaran
• Conditional:
  • estaria, estaries, estaria, estaríem, estaríeu, estarien
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: estigui, estiguis, estigui, estiguem, estigueu, estiguin
  • Imperfect: estigués, estiguessis, estigués, estiguéssim, estiguéssiu, estiguessin
• Imperative:
  • estigues, estigueu

In French

ÊTRE

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: être
  • Gerund/present participle: étant
  • Past participle: été
• Indicative:
  • Present: suis, es, est, sommes, êtes, sont
  • Imperfect: étais, étais, était, étions, étiez, étaient
  • Past historic: fus, fus, fut, fûmes, fûtes, furent
  • Future: serai, seras, sera, serons, serez, seront
• Conditional:
  • serais, serais, serait, serions, seriez, seraient
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: sois, sois, soit, soyons, soyez, soient
  • Imperfect: fusse, fusses, fût, fussions, fussiez, fussent
• Imperative:
  • sois, soyez

In Italian

ESSERE

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: essere
  • Gerund: essendo
  • Past participle: stato (from stare)
• Indicative:
  • Present: sono, sei, è, siamo, siete, sono
  • Imperfect: ero, eri, era, eravamo, eravate
  • Past historic: fui, fosti, fu, fummo, foste, furono
  • Future: sarò, sarai, sarà, saremo, sarete, saranno
• Conditional:
  • sarei, saresti, sarebbe, saremmo, sareste, sarebbero
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: sia, sia, sia, siamo, siate, siano
  • Imperfect: fossi, fossi, fosse, fossimo, foste, fossero
• Imperative:
  • sii, siate

STARE

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: stare
  • Gerund: stando
  • Past participle: stato
• Indicative:
  • Present: sto, stai, sta, stiamo, state, stanno
  • Imperfect: stavo, stavi, stava, stavamo, stavate, stavano
  • Past historic: stetti, stesti, stette, stemmo, steste, stettero
  • Future: starò, starai, starà, staremo, starete, staranno
• Conditional:
  • starei, staresti, starebbe, staremmo, stareste, starebbero
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: stia, stia, stia, stiamo, stiate, stiano
  • Imperfect: stessi, stessi, stesse, stessimo, steste, stessero
• Imperative:
  • sta’, state

In Portuguese

SER

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: ser
    • Personal infinitive: ser, seres, ser, sermos, serdes, serem
  • Gerund: sendo
  • Past participle: sido
• Indicative:
  • Present: sou, és, é, somos, sois, são
  • Imperfect: era, eras, era, éramos, éreis, eram
  • Preterite: fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram
  • Pluperfect: fora, foras, fora, fôramos, fôreis, foram
  • Future: serei, serás, será, seremos, sereis, serão
• Conditional:
  • seria, serias, seria, seríamos, seríeis, seriam
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: seja, sejas, seja, sejamos, sejais, sejam
  • Imperfect: fosse, fosses, fosse, fôssemos, fôsseis, fossem
  • Future: for, fores, for, formos, fordes, forem
• Imperative:
  • sê (tu), seja (você), sejamos (nós), sede (vós), sejam (vocês)

ESTAR

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: estar
    • Personal infinitive: estar, estares, estar, estarmos, estardes, estarem
  • Gerund: estando
  • Past participle: estado
• Indicative:
  • Present: estou, estás, está, estamos, estais, estão
  • Imperfect: estava, estavas, estava, estávamos, estáveis, estavam
  • Preterite: estive, estiveste, esteve, estivemos, estivestes, estiveram
  • Pluperfect: estivera, estiveras, estivera, estivéramos, estivéreis, estiveram
  • Future: estarei, estarás, estará, estaremos, estareis, estarão
• Conditional:
  • estaria, estarias, estaria, estaríamos, estaríeis, estariam
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: esteja, estejas, esteja, estejamos, estejais, estejam
  • Imperfect: estivesse, estivesses, estivesse, estivéssemos, estivésseis, estivessem
  • Future: estiver, estiveres, estiver, estivermos, estiverdes, estiverem
• Imperative:
  • está (tu), esteja (você), estejamos (nós), estai (vós), estejam (vocês)

In Romanian

FI

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: a fi
  • Gerund: fiind
  • Past participle: fost
• Indicative:
  • Present: sunt, eşti, e(ste), suntem, sunteţi, sunt
  • Pluperfect: fusesem, fuseseşi, fusese, fuseserăm, fuseserăţi, fuseseră
  • Imperfect: eram, erai, era, eram, eraţi, erau
  • Preterite:
    1. fusei, fuseşi, fuse, fuserăm, fuserăţi, fuseră
    2. fui, fuşi, fu, furăm, furăţi, fură
  • Future:
    1. voi fi, vei fi, va fi, vom fi, veţi fi, vor fi
    2. o să fiu, o să fii, o să fie, o să fim, o să fiţi, o să fie
    3. oi fi, îi fi, a fi, om fi, îţi fi, or fi
• Conditional: aş fi, ai fi, ar fi, am fi, aţi fi, ar fi
• Subjunctive: să fiu, să fii, să fie, să fim, să fiţi, să fie
• Imperative: fii, fiţi

In Romansh

ESSER

• Non-finite:
  • Infinitive: esser
  • Gerund: essend~siond
  • Past participle: stà
• Indicative:
  • Present: sun, es, è, essan, essas, èn
  • Imperfect: era, eras, era, eran, eras, eran
• Conditional:
  • fiss, fissas, fiss, fissan, fissas, fissan
• Subjunctive:
  • Present: saja, sajas, saja, sajan, sajas, sajan
• Imperative:
  • saja, sajas

STAR

See also

• Verb
  • Copula
  • Grammatical conjugation
• Latin
  • Latin grammar
  • Latin declension
  • Latin conjugation
  • Vulgar Latin
• Romance language
  • Catalan language
  • French language
    • French grammar
  • Italian language
  • Portuguese language
    • Portuguese conjugation
    • Portuguese pronouns
  • Romanian language
  • Romansh language
  • Spanish language
    • Spanish grammar
• Romance Language Creoles
  • Haitian Creole language
  • Portuguese Creole
  • Spanish Creole

Further reading

PDF documents, mainly on the Spanish copula

• Ser and Estar from a Cognitive Perspective: Method and Analysis
• The Acquisition of the Verbs Ser and Estar in Undergraduate Students (in the US)
• Acquisition of copulas ser and estar in Spanish: learning lexico-semantics, syntax and discourse
• Grammaticalization of ser and estar in Romance languages

 * indicates an incorrect or unattested form.