Quote:
Originally Posted by Falda Verde
Sad (triste) is a temporary condition, so I would use estar, but what if I am talking about a book's ending? Would I use ser since the ending doesn't change?
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'Sad' can be a characteristic of a person (normally sad) or a condition/state (not always so). For the former, you'd use '
ser triste'; for the latter, '
estar triste'. The original post in the thread doesn't mention 'temporary'. Think more in terms of 'characteristic' or 'state'.
The story written in a book can be 'sad', 'uplifting', 'scary', etc. All are used to describe or define the story at a particular moment. Since these are definitive labels, the verb to use is '
ser'. '
Es triste la parte cuando muere uno de los hijos.'
When we talk about a happy ending or a sad ending in a book, it's common to use '
tener un final feliz' or '
tener un final triste'. But you may also say, "
El final del libro es triste." That's a defining characteristic.