The classic mix-ups: ser/estar, por/para, pero/sino

Spanish has two verbs for "to be". Ser is the one for what something is: its identity, its nature, the category it belongs to. If you are answering "who is it?", "what is it?" or "what is it like by nature?", you want ser.

• profession and identity: Soy profesora.

• origin and nationality: Somos de Chile.

• character and lasting features: Mi abuelo es muy alto.

• material and ownership: La mesa es de madera. El coche es de Ana.

• the time and the date: Son las tres. Hoy es lunes.

The trap for English speakers is that "is" never changes, so every description feels the same. Ask yourself: am I classifying this thing, or reporting where it is or how it is right now? "My brother is a doctor" classifies him, so es médico. "My brother is at the hospital" places him, and that is estar, the next lesson.

Two details catch people out. Spanish drops un/una before a bare profession (es enfermera, but es una enfermera excelente). And the time is plural from two o'clock on: es la una, son las dos. The forms are the same everywhere except informal "you": tú eres, vos sos in Rioplatense and Central American Spanish, and vosotros sois in Spain.

Estar answers two questions: where is it, and how is it right now? Use it for the location of people and things, and for moods, feelings and physical states.

• location: Las llaves están en la mesa. Estoy en casa.

• feelings and moods: Estamos contentos. ¿Estás nervioso?

• physical states: Mi hijo está enfermo. Estoy muy cansada.

• with bien and mal: ¿Cómo estás? Estoy bien.

The English-speaker trap is reaching for ser because the sentence looks like a description. "I am tired" is not a trait you were born with; it is your condition today, so estoy cansado. Location always takes estar, even for things that never move: Madrid está en el centro de España.

Some adjectives change meaning with the verb, so the choice matters. Estoy aburrido means "I'm bored"; soy aburrido means "I'm boring". There is one exception to the location rule: events (a party, a meeting, a concert) "take place", so they use ser: La fiesta es en mi casa.

The forms are estoy, estás, está, estamos, están. Vos estás is the same as tú estás, and Spain adds vosotros estáis for "you all".

Some adjectives work with both verbs, and the verb changes what you mean. Ser gives the normal nature of something; estar gives its condition at the moment, often a change from normal or the result of something that happened.

• ser rico (rich) / estar rico (tasty): Mi tío es rico. La sopa está rica.

• ser listo (clever) / estar listo (ready)

• ser aburrido (boring) / estar aburrido (bored)

• ser guapo (good-looking) / estar guapo (looking good today)

Results of an action also take estar, because they describe a state something has ended up in: abierto, cerrado, roto, sucio, limpio, lleno, vacío. A shop está cerrada, a glass está roto, a car está sucio. English speakers tend to say es here because "the shop is closed" sounds like a fact, but in Spanish it is a condition that can change tomorrow.

To decide, ask: would I say this about it on any day, or am I telling you how it is now? Food you are tasting is rica; a person who could buy the restaurant is rico. In Spain you will also hear estar malo for "to be ill", where Latin America prefers estar enfermo.

Hay means "there is" and "there are". It has one form for singular and plural, and it states that something exists somewhere: Hay un baño arriba. Hay tres libros en la mesa. No hay leche.

Está and están say where a specific thing is: El baño está arriba. Los libros están en la mesa.

The way to choose is the word in front of the noun.

• nothing, un/una, a number, mucho, algún: use hay (hay una farmacia, hay dos gatos, hay mucha gente)

• el/la/los/las, mi/tu, a name: use estar (la farmacia está en la esquina)

English speakers often say hay la farmacia or está una farmacia, because English "there is" can point at something already known ("there's the pharmacy!"). In Spanish, hay only introduces new things; once a thing is known, you locate it with estar. Compare the two questions a traveller asks: ¿Hay un baño por aquí? (is there one at all?) and ¿Dónde está el baño? (where is the one I know exists?).

Never add a plural ending: it is always hay, never hayn. Hay works the same in every variety of Spanish.

English "for" splits into two Spanish words. The most useful picture: para points forward to a goal or destination, por looks back at a cause or describes the path, the exchange or the stretch of time.

Use para for:

• purpose, "in order to": Ahorro para comprar una casa.

• recipient: Las flores son para mi abuela.

• destination: Salgo para el aeropuerto.

• deadline: Lo necesito para el viernes.

• comparison with a standard: Para ser principiante, hablas muy bien.

Use por for:

• cause or reason: Gracias por tu ayuda. Lo hice por ti.

• exchange and price: Pagué demasiado por esta chaqueta.

• movement through or along: Caminamos por la playa.

• means: Te llamo por teléfono.

• a vague time of day: por la mañana, por la noche

The trap is translating "for" by reflex. Ask: is this the goal, the person it is aimed at, the deadline? That is para. Is it the reason behind it, the thing swapped, the route? That is por. "Thanks for" is always gracias por, because the help is the reason for the thanks, and "paid for" is always por, because money is exchanged for the thing. The rules are the same in every variety.

Both translate as "but", and they do different jobs.

Pero adds something that contrasts with what came before, without cancelling it: El piso es pequeño, pero tiene mucha luz. Both halves are true.

Sino corrects a negative. The first half says what something is not, and sino gives what it really is, like English "not X but Y" or "but rather": No es caro, sino barato. No quiero té, sino café. The second half replaces the first.

Three patterns to recognise:

• no ... sino + a word or phrase: No es argentino, sino uruguayo.

• no ... sino que + a conjugated verb: No llamó, sino que me escribió.

• no solo ... sino también: "not only ... but also": No solo cocina, sino que también hace su pan.

The test: is the first part negative, and does the second part replace it? Then sino. If the first part is positive, or the second part simply adds a contrast, use pero. No tengo dinero, pero tengo tiempo uses pero: having time does not cancel having no money.

English speakers almost always write pero after a negative, so watch every "not ... but". The rule holds in every variety.