Estar is one of the most important irregular verbs in Spanish — it appears in virtually every GCSE and A-Level task.
Practice estar free →Estar is the second Spanish verb meaning 'to be', and it covers everything ser does not: temporary states, emotions, and physical location. You are estás cansado (tired) today even if you are normally energetic, and Madrid está in Spain because location uses estar. It is also the verb behind the present continuous — estoy estudiando, I am studying. Estar is irregular, with an unexpected yo form (estoy) and accent marks across the present tense (estás, está, están) that are easy to drop and costly to lose in writing. Mastering when to reach for estar rather than ser is one of the clearest markers of a confident Spanish speaker, and it is tested directly at GCSE and A-Level.
Quick facts
Estar (to be (temporary)) is an irregular -ar verb.
Real sentences across different tenses — the kind of thing you'd actually say or write.
Where something or someone is: estoy en casa (I'm at home), Madrid está en España. Even permanent locations use estar.
How you feel or how things are right now: estoy cansado (I'm tired), está triste (he's sad), la sopa está fría (the soup is cold).
Estar + gerund forms the 'am/is/are ...-ing' tense: estoy estudiando (I am studying), están jugando (they are playing).
Conditions that resulted from something happening: está roto (it's broken), está abierto (it's open).
Fixed expressions worth knowing — they come up in listening, reading and writing tasks.
Idiomatic expressions
Students often write '¿Dónde es?' — wrong. Location is always estar: '¿Dónde está?' The ser/estar distinction is one of the most tested grammar points at GCSE. Learn the rule, not the exceptions.
The yo form is irregular. The tú, él, and ellos forms carry a written accent on the final vowel — remember to include it.
Completely irregular stem: estuv-. Apply standard preterite endings.
The ellos conditional ends in -ían (estarían) — do not confuse with the future -án ending.
Type conjugations from memory and get instant feedback. That's how you actually build the automatic recall the exam needs — not from reading tables.
Practice estar now →Three questions, no account needed. Type the form, then press Enter or tap Check.
yo: estoy, tú: estás, él: está, nosotros: estamos, vosotros: estáis, ellos: están
Estar is irregular. The tenses with irregular forms are: Presente, Pretérito Indefinido, Condicional.
The past participle is estado (he estado) and the gerund is estando (estoy estando).
Verbs that are easy to confuse with estar or that behave like it.
Estar is on the AQA, Edexcel and Eduqas GCSE Spanish vocabulary lists. Compare the exam boards.
Written by Daniel Holmes for GCSE & A-Level Spanish students.