estar

Meaning

1. (intransitive) to be (have a temporary or permanent location in space)
2. (intransitive) to be (denotes a copula, in a transient fashion)
3. to be (auxiliary verb for the progressive/continuous aspect, preceding the gerund of the verb)
4. (intransitive) to be in a state (in a passive voice sense)
5. (reflexive) to be, stay (denotes a copula, in a transient fashion)
6. (intransitive) to be (still)
7. (intransitive) to be in a long-term state (in specific idioms)

Hyphenated as

es‧tar

Pronounced as (IPA)

/esˈtaɾ/

Etymology

Inherited from Old Spanish estar, inherited from Latin stāre (“stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (compare English stand). The preterite's origin is unclear, most likely generalized from the preterite of haber (“to have”), hub- (note that b and v are pronounced identically; compare the same development in andar and tener). Cognate with English state.

Sentences

Yo soy quien debería estar atado a ese cohete .

I'm the one who should be strapped to that rocket.

Esta lista de especies puede estar incompleta .

This list of species may be incomplete.

En la letra , Lo compara enamorarse con estar bajo la influencia de las drogas .

In the lyrics, Lo compares falling in love to being under the influence of drugs.

Esto condujo a la cuestión de dónde deberían estar colocados estos contenedores .

This led to the question of where these containers should be placed.

El aparato a presión puede estar dividido en dos o más compartimentos .

The pressure apparatus may be divided into two or more compartments.

Necesitan estar orientados hacia el sol y en suelo bien drenado .

They need to be oriented towards the sun and on well-drained soil.