Use of Estar and Ser with Adjectives of Marital Status

Use of Estar and Ser with Adjectives of Marital Status If you are learning to speak Spanish, you may be wondering which word describing martial status is correct - soy casada or estoy casada? The quick answer is that theyre both correct! With adjectives of marital status - ones other than casado (married) include soltero (single), divorciado (divorced) and viudo (widowed), along with their feminine equivalents - estar and ser are more or less interchangeable. Difference Between Ser and Ester Although the differences between ser and estar are usually distinct, that just doesnt seem to be so with the adjectives of marital status, where youll often hear the two verbs used with little difference in meaning. In some areas, however, one or the other may be preferred, and estar probably has an edge in everyday speech, at least with casado. Even so, use of estar can suggest (but doesnt always) there has been a change in marital status. Thus, you might ask a new acquaintance  ¿es usted casado? if you see his marital status as part of his identity. But you might ask a friend you havent seen for a while  ¿ests casado? as a way of asking, Have you become married since I saw you last? or Are you still married? Similarities With Other Spanish Adjectives The same is true with very few adjectives, such as gordo (fat) and delgado (thin), that describe personal characteristics. Both es gordo and est gordo can be used to say he is fat, for example. The latter often suggests that there has been a change, while the former may suggest merely a description of the way a person is. So the choice of verb can suggest an attitude - estar may suggest a state of being at the moment, while ser may suggest an inherent characteristic. In fact, that is the safest way to make your verb choice, and estar must be used where indeed there has been a change. But in everyday descriptions, the distinction of meaning isnt always a sharply clear one.