Posted by Ritmo on May 10, 2001 at 11:40:14:
In Reply to: Re: Ser vs estar for 'gordita' posted by KRICO on May 10, 2001 at 07:21:44:
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Adjectives that describe a person's OBJECTIVE (and at least relatively permanent) physical characteristics take 'ser'--e.g., while 'joven' is a state that doesn't last forever, it nonetheless normally takes 'ser' ('es joven', and not 'esta joven'). She is OBJECTIVELY gordita (and that won't change tomorrow, however much her weight fluctuates), or flaca, or whatever, so 'es gordita' etc., and not 'esta gordita'. 'Estar' can sometimes be used with adjectives that usually take 'ser' to indicate speaker's *subjective* sense of someone's appearance or characteristics. But if one is just describing, one uses 'ser'. The reasoning you guys are following would allow that even 'ella es una mujer' should be open to possible use of 'estar' (after all, there are surgeries, so maybe she's only a woman NOW)! The permanent is generally only RELATIVELY so--except for the God people...
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