Esta is something temporary Es means permanent e.g She is at the beach; Ella está en la playa (She is at the beach now, but she might be at home later) He is from America; Él es americano (this is both a description and a permanent thing, since he was born in America, therefore he will always be American)
That can be misleading. “Está” is used for qualities that change, but it is also used for giving a location of people or things or even places that never move and “es” is also used to give the location of a planned event as well as qualities that identify a person.
Check out this Learning tips, Grammar Anthology https://www.duolingo.com/comment/24635443
Check out the one called “Ser or Estar”.
Yes, it would be wrong. You would talk about the location of a planned event, such as a concert being at a particular location using “es”. That event is there until the event is over. I cannot explain why everything else besides an event uses “está” for location, but that is just the way it is. We have to memorize it
From a philosophical perspective, i think of it as the event will be there for that specified moment in time and place forever and since the event kinda has a spirit of it's own it's given a more permanent grammar consideration. idk though i'm ignorant of plenty of things. This is my discussion.
¿Qué es ESTO? = What is this?
¿Donde ESTA él/ella? = Where is he/she?
Tu ESTAS estudiando = You are studying
Ustedes ESTÁN ocupados = You are busy
Él ESTÁ ocupado = He is busy
Él ESTÁ enfermo = He is sick
Ella ES agradable = She is nice
Ella ES de Perú = She is from Perú
Ellos son de España = They are from Spain
No difference! I suppose you might wonder if it was “Where are you” at first, but then you should notice that it is the wrong conjugation for tú and what about that last word? If you read the whole thing through, you will realize that it is “tu pasaporte” that someone is looking for.
Most nouns that end in o are masculine and most that end in a are feminine, but there are exceptions so always memorize a noun with its article. https://www.thoughtco.com/words-that-break-the-gender-rule-3078133
Of course, if you come across a new word or forgot one, you can always look it up in a dictionary.
It shows m for masculine in red.
Some words have different meanings, basically they are different words, with one feminine and one masculine. https://www.thoughtco.com/doubly-gendered-basics-3079264
So I had to write in English the Spanish version of "Where is your passport?" and it had the option of 's or is and of course their the same thing. In fact I personally know from my Spanish classes in high school that's how Spanish people think. So obviously to make things shorter and easier, I chose "Where's your passport?" over "Where IS your passport?" I still got it right, but it said I had a typo.
The computer tends to think that apostrophe s is used for possessive unless it is on a pronoun, so that was a good workaround by the contributors or moderators. You could try creating an error report for the programmers to adjust the code when they get a chance, but there are so many other things that they need to get to first though. They need to limit that difficulty to when it is attached to a noun and then they would need to check the word after it to make sure it is not a noun.
I bet I know what happened. Someone probably wanted to put “Where’s your passport?” So Duolingo added it for this sentence. Then the computer cannot tell the difference between the contraction for “is” and “has” which is only used when “has” is used with a past participle, but the computer doesn’t know that. Please report it.
“Tu” is the familiar form of “your” which is used in Spain when you would use “tú” for “you”- when you are talking to a friend, a family member, or a child. When you are not on a first name basis with someone in Spain, you would use the “su” for “your” just as you would use “usted” for “you”. In Latin America, “usted” and “su” could be used for both groups of people. https://www.thoughtco.com/formal-and-informal-you-spanish-3079379
Now, for the verb, you must use “está” from “estar” to ask where something or someone is. “Es” from “ser” can only be used for where, for an event. These two verbs are not interchangeable. https://www.thoughtco.com/verbs-meaning-to-be-ser-estar-3078314
"Dónde está tu pasaporte" is correct, the other form is not. You would use "está" in most situations in which the english "is" indicates position or temporary situations (is at home, is tired, is sleeping, is raining...). You would use "es" in most situations in which the english "is" indicates more or less permanent situations (is german, is black, is clever...). More generally, one must remember that the verb "to be" can be translated as two different verbs: "estar" or "ser" according to the above "rules".
Those would be called possessive adjectives in English and that is what is used in this Duolingo sentence.
Pronouns replace nouns and there are many forms. https://www.thoughtco.com/possessive-pronouns-spanish-3079364
1) When “is” indicates position or location of someone or something, as in
-The cat is under the table
-The passport is in the purse
-New York is in the U.S.
then you translate it as “está” (don’t forget the accent over “a”)
2) You also translate “is” as “está” when you are indicating reasonably temporary states, as in
The sky is cloudy
The teacher is angry
It is snowing
3) When “is” indicates reasonably permanent states, such as in
He is Japanese
The cat is black
My son is a happy kid
then it must be translated as “es”
Of course, these rules apply in general to all other persons of the verb “to be” when you have to decide to translate it as “estar” or “ser”. There are a few exceptions or more complicated cases, but if you follow these 3 rules you will most likely be right.
There are rules when to use each of the two verbs. You cannot arbitrarily replace one with the other. The estar form is used for where you are and how you are as well as to form compound verb tenses and more. The ser form is used to define something, to give your nationality, characteristics, and profession among other things.
In Spanish, only é is used and è is used in Italian. In French they use both. It is part of the spelling of the word which you must memorize.
There is usually an acccent on a question word, for example "Dónde?" while "donde" is used to connect a clause to a sentence.
An accent can indicate a stress on a syllable that would not usually be stressed in Spanish.
A one syllable word that has an accent is differentiating between two separate words, for example "él" = "he", but "el" = "the" ( for a noun that happens to be masculine in Spanish)
"está" is a verb meaning "is" for "él" or "ella" or someone or something that we are talking about or "are" for "usted"
"esta" = "this" for a noun that happens to be feminine
Memorize the words that need them. https://www.thoughtco.com/accent-on-accents-spanish-3080290
No, "tu" = "your", not "you" which would have been "tú". The verb form "estás" would be used if you were asking "Where are you?" and you were using the familiar form of you "tú" which is used like "thou" used to be used, but it is still used in Spain. The question word is "¿Dónde..."?" with an accent and "donde" is a relative pronoun connecting a subordinate clause to a sentence. The verb form "is" = "está" here and is correct for the subject which is "passport".
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