What a person is like: character suffixes and ser against estar
Words for character are nearly all a noun plus an ending. Know the rows and you will understand a word you have never seen. For example: “Es un chico tímido, pero hoy está muy hablador” — He is a shy guy, but today he is very chatty. A rule from the Spanish course: worked out on examples, not memorized as a wording.
How it works
Words for character are nearly all a noun plus an ending. Know the rows and you will understand a word you have never seen.
-oso means 'full of it': el orgullo → orgulloso, la envidia → envidioso, el cariño → cariñoso. It is the most productive row.
-ón adds size and almost always mockery: la cabeza → cabezón (stubborn), dormir → dormilón (a sleepyhead). -able says what can be done with someone: amable, insoportable.
Now ser or estar with a trait. Ser names the property: es tímido. Estar names the state right now: está callado hoy. With some words the meaning shifts: ser listo is clever, estar listo is ready.
Table
| base | suffix | word | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| el orgullo | -oso | orgulloso | vain |
| la envidia | -oso | envidioso | envious |
| la cabeza | -ón | cabezón | stubborn, big-headed |
| dormir | -ón | dormilón | a sleepyhead |
| soportar | -able | insoportable | unbearable |
| ser listo | — | clever | a property |
| estar listo | — | ready | a state |
| ser bueno | — | good | a property |
By example
- Es un chico tímido, pero hoy está muy habladorHe is a shy guy, but today he is very chatty
- No es que sea vago: está cansado desde el turno de nocheIt is not that he is lazy: he is tired from the night shift
- Es listo, pero todavía no está listo para el examenHe is clever, but he is not ready for the exam yet
How the rule settles in your head
A rule is not memorized from an explanation. It is memorized from an attempt to use it and a mistake — that is why the app delivers it mixed in with words, not as a separate lesson: it resurfaces exactly where you forgot it.
Frequently asked
What a person is like: how does it work in Spanish?
Words for character are nearly all a noun plus an ending. Know the rows and you will understand a word you have never seen.
What does it look like in an example sentence Spanish?
“Es un chico tímido, pero hoy está muy hablador” — He is a shy guy, but today he is very chatty. A rule is easier to test on sentences like this than to memorize as a wording: what surfaces in conversation is the sentence.