Top 10 "Estar" Conjugations Spanish Speakers Use Every Day

In this video, we’ll cover those 10 forms of “estar” and how to use them correctly. Plus, we’ll practice using each of them with quizzes, and we’ll walk through some simple ways to practice the trickier forms like esté and estado.

If you want to practice even more, don’t miss our free flashcards to practice all of this!

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The 10 Most Common Forms of "Estar"

Before diving into the explanation of each tense, let’s take a quick look at the whole list.

Here are the top 10 forms of estar (in the order they’re used):

• está
• estoy
• estás
• estaba
• están
• estar
• estamos
• estado
• estabas
• esté

Next, let’s divide and conquer each form to get you using these like a native speaker.

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1. Present-Tense Forms of "Estar"

The first five forms of estar you need to know are in the present tense. The present tense is used to describe states or conditions happening right now. Those are:

• está – he/she/it is
  
  My friend is well.
  Mi amiga está bien.
  
  
• estoy – I am
  
  I am here.
  Yo estoy aquí.
  
  
• estás – you are
  
  You are here.
  Tú estás aquí.
  
  
• están – they are
  
  My friends are at home.
  Mis amigos están en casa.
  
  
• estamos – we are
  
  We are happy.
  Nosotros estamos felices.
  
  

Easy, right? Now, let’s do a quick quiz:

1. My friends are well.
   Mis amigos _____ bien.
   
   
2. I am here.
   Yo ____ aquí.
   
   
3. You are well?
   ¿Tú ______ bien?
4. The thing is at the house.
   La cosa ____ en la casa.
   
   
5. We are well.
   Nosotros _____ bien.

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Answers: 

1. están
2. estoy
3. estás
4. está 
5. estamos 

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2. Past-Tense Forms of "Estar"

Next, let’s cover the past tense of estar – known as the imperfect (el imperfecto). The past tense forms of estar are used to describe a completed action in the past:

• estaba – I/he/she/it was
  
  She was at home.
  Ella estaba en casa.
  
  
• estabas – you were
  
  You were in the house.
  Tú estabas en la casa.
  

In each of the sentences above, the action is completed. She was at home, and you were at home – but now, most likely, you are no longer there.

Let’s test your skills:

1. He was here.
   Él _____ aquí.
   
   
2. You were not well.
   Tú no ____ bien.
   
   
3. I was at the place.
   Yo ___ en el lugar.

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Answers:

1. estaba
2. estabas
3. estaba

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3. The Participle of "Estar"

This is where it gets trickier. We use the participle of Estar, estado, to talk about the past that has not been completed yet or to describe how many times something has happened in the past.

Now, that may sound complicated, but the good news is: you already know these rules because it works the same in English! Consider the following sentence:

• I have been here twice.

In Spanish this translates to:

• Yo he estado aquí dos veces.

So “have been” turns into he estado. In English, we conjugate the verb “have” (have/has/had), and then use “been”. In Spanish, you conjugate the verb “haber” (he/ha/has), then add the preterite estado.

Let’s see this sentence in action for other forms.
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• He has been here twice.
• Él ha estado aquí dos veces.
  

• I have been here twice.
• Yo he estado aquí dos veces.

• We have been here twice.
• Nosotros hemos estado aqui dos veces.

• They have been here twice.
• Ellos han estado aqui dos veces.
  
  

Here’s another way that estado is used:

• She has been tired all day.
• Ella ha estado cansada todo el día.

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Though this is the past tense, this past action is not yet completed. She has been tired all day, and she is still tired now up until this moment. We’re still using the exact same structure, with Haber (ha) and then estado.

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Now for some quick practice:

• He has been well! 
• ¡Él ____   ______  bien!
• ‍I have been to Paris once..
• Yo _____  _______ en Paris una vez.

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4. The Infinitive, Estar (To Be)

Next up is the infinitive form, which simply means it is not conjugated and remains the same despite which subject or tense is being used. Let’s look at it a bit closer:

• I wanted to be here.
• She wants to be here. 
• Do they need to be here?

In each sentence, “to be” is in the infinitive form without conjugation, even though the subject and tense vary. Now let’s translate them:

• Yo quería estar aqui.
• Ella quiere estar aqui. 
• Tienen que estar aqui?

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Here are a couple more examples:

• You want to be at the place?
• ¿Quieres estar en el lugar?
• I want to be with them.
• Quiero estar con ellos.

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5. Subjunctive Form: "Esté"

And now the subjunctive. Students often struggle with the subjunctive, but with a little practice, it’s quite straightforward to master. The form esté is used when someone is expressing where they want someone else to be:

• Example: Quiero que ella esté aquí. 

This translates to “I want her to be here”. In this sentence, “she” is not here, but we are expressing the desire for her to be present. Therefore, the subjunctive “esté” is needed. 

Now you try:

1. I want my friend to be at home.
   Quiero que mi amigo ____ en casa.

6. What About the Future of Estar?

Although Estar has future tense conjugations, they are less common in everyday conversation. Instead, Spanish speakers often use Ir + a + infinitive since they are simpler and quicker to use than the more complex future conjugations. For example:

• I’m going to be at home.
• Voy a estar en casa.
  

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Quiz: Fill in the Blanks with the Correct Form of "Estar"

Put your knowledge to the test! Fill in the blanks with the correct form of estar.

1. We are at the place. Nosotros _______ en el lugar.‍
2. I have not been here. Yo no he _______ aquí.
3. That’s why I am with her friend. Por eso yo _______ con su amigo.
4. I want to be at home. Yo quiero _______ en casa.
5. The girl has been with him. La chica ha _______ con él.‍
6. You were not here? Tú no _______ aquí?‍
7. The things are not here. Las cosas no _______ aquí.‍
8. I want my friend to be well. Yo quiero que mi amigo _______ bien.‍
9. She is not at home. Ella no _______ en casa.‍
10. My friend was in a good place. Mi amigo _______ en un buen lugar.

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Answers:

1. estamos
2. estado
3. estoy
4. estar
5. estado
6. estabas
7. están
8. esté
9. está
10. estaba

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Ready for More Practice?

Check out our free flashcards with 30 examples to master these forms of estar! These examples focus on the top 200 words in Spanish, helping you build a strong foundation in the language.