están

Están is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Spanish verb estar. It corresponds to English “they are” or, in many dialects, “you all are” when addressing more than one person. Estar denotes temporary states, locations, and ongoing actions, and comes from Latin stāre (to stand). Están is used for location: “Están en la casa”; for temporary conditions: “Están cansados”; and in the progressive aspect: “Están estudiando” meaning “they are studying.”

In Spain, the informal plural you is vosotros estáis; ustedes están is the predominant form in many Latin American dialects and is increasingly common in formal contexts in Spain as well. Están therefore appears with ellos/ellas/ustedes as subjects, while vosotros estáis is used for informal second person in Spain.

Orthography: Están carries a written accent on the a (están). This marks the stress on the last syllable, since the word ends in -n. Without the accent, “estan” would be pronounced with stress on the first syllable and would be considered incorrect in standard Spanish.

Common usage notes: Estar expresses temporary states or locations, while a different verb, ser, is used for inherent characteristics, identity, or origin. Examples illustrating the contrast include “Están cansados” (they are tired, temporary) versus “Son médicos” (they are doctors, a permanent occupation). Estar also forms periphrastic tenses with the gerund, as in “están estudiando.”