If something is prohibited, would you say "es prohibido" or "está prohibido"? If something is destroyed, would you say "es destruido" or "está destruido"?

The standard rule regarding ser and estar — ser is used when talking about innate qualities, while estar is used to refer to states or conditions — is applicable here. Even so, the choice of whether to use ser or estar with a past participle isn't always obvious to native English speakers.


That's because ser and estar provide distinctions that the equivalent English verb, "to be," does not.

An example translating the past tense should make those distinctions clearer. If we translate using ser and estar, we can come up with two basic translations for "Smoking was prohibited" — and they don't mean the same thing even though the English words are the same:

• Estaba prohibido fumar. (Smoking was prohibited. At the time the sentence is concerned with, smoking was not allowed.)
• Fue prohibido fumar. (Smoking was prohibited. An unspecified person or persons banned smoking. Another form of ser, era, could have also been used if the prohibition didn't happen at a specific time.)

In the first sentence, the use of a conjugated form of estar shows that prohibido refers to the state or status of something; note that estar comes from the same Latin source as "state" and "status." But in the second sentence, a conjugated form of ser marks a use of the passive voice. The passive voice here conveys action, not status resulting from action.

(Note: Be aware that the passive voice is less common in Spanish than in English. A native speaker might convey the same idea as "era prohibido" by using prohibirreflexively: Se prohibió.)

The analysis is similar using destruir, a verb meaning to destroy. See how the first translation below uses a non-verb phrase rather than a special verb form to convey the idea of state or status:

• Nuestro pueblo estaba destruido. (Our town was in ruins. Destruido here functions as an adjective describing the state of the town.)
• Nuestro pueblo era destruido. (Our town was destroyed. Destruido here helps form the passive voice to indicate the action of an unspecified agent. It also would be possible to use the preterite: Nuestro pueblo fue destruido.)

If you're a beginner at Spanish and speaking in the present tense, you'll usually be safe using forms of estar with past participles. That's because in the present tense, the participle is usually used to refer to the current status as the result of past actions:

• La ayuda a morir está permitida en algunos países. (Assisted death is permitted in some countries.)
• Está probado que podemos luchar con éxito. (It is proven that we can fight successfully.)
• ¡Estamos perdidos! (We're lost!)
• Sandra dice que la clavícula está rota. (Sandra says her clavicle is broken.)
• Al menos 20 personas están heridas. (At least 20 people are injured.)

But, although not common, a present-tense form of ser can be used if the past participle is referring to action rather than a current state:

• El fumar es prohibido por la ordenanza local. (Smoking is prohibited by local ordinance. This is a passive way of saying that the ordinance prohibits smoking.)
• Si usted es herido, usted merece ser compensado. (If you are injured, you deserve to be compensated. Both verb phrases refer to actions.)

Special Cases

Use of estar with participles of marital status — casado (married) and divorciado — suggests a change of status. Thus if you have been married since you last saw a friend, you might say "Estoy casada" upon meeting him to indicate the change in status. But if you were merely describing yourself to someone who didn't know your background, you'd be more likely to say "Soy casada."

Muerto, the past participle of morir, to die, is used with estar: La presidente está muerta. (The president is dead.)