Spanish Expressions Using the Verb Estar

As one of the verbs meaning to be, estar finds its way into numerous idiomatic expressions whose meaning may not be obvious at first. Following are some of the most common and/or useful of them, along with sample sentences taken from contemporary writing. Appropriate translations can vary, depending on the context. Spanish Expressions Using Estar dà ³nde estamos (an expression of amazement or disgust at what is being witnessed).  ¿Dà ³nde estamos?  ¡No lo puedo creer! (Whats going on here? I cant believe it!) estar a aà ±os luz (to be light years away, literally or figuratively): Eso plan està ¡ a aà ±os luz de lo que necesita la industria. (That plan is light years away from what the industry needs.) estar a gusto (to be comfortable). Estoy a gusto en mi trabajo. (I am comfortable with my job.) estar a la moda (to be in style): Los pantalones de campana no està ¡n de moda. (Bell-bottom pants arent in style.) estar a la que salta (to be ready to take advantage or make the best of a situation). Durante la Guerra Frà ­a, tantos rusos como americanos estaban a la que salta por averiguar quà © hacà ­a el otro. (During the Cold War, as many Russians as Americans were ready to jump at the chance to figure out what the other side was doing.) estar al caer (to be on the verge of arriving). El Galaxy S10 està ¡ al caer, y podrà ­a costar 899 dà ³lares. (The Galaxy S10 is almost here, and it could cost $899.) estar al loro (to be on top of things). Puedes hablar de todo, porque està ¡s al loro de lo que sucede diariamente. (You can talk about everything, because youre on top of everything that happens daily.) estar a oscuras (to be ignorant or in the dark). Estoy a oscuras en estos temas. (I am in the dark about these subjects.) estar a punto de (to be on the verge of). Estaba a punto de llamarte. (I was just about to call you.) estar al corriente (to be up to date or current). No estoy al corriente en mis pagos. (Im not up to date with my payments.) estar al dà ­a (to be informed). Quiero estar al dà ­a con todo lo que pueda con mi bebà ©. (I want to know about everything that can happen with my baby.) estar al là ­mite (to be at ones limit in patience). En estos momentos estoy al là ­mite, y me hace daà ±o ver como mi novio se autodestruye. (These days I am at my limit, and it pains me to see how my boyfriend is self-destructing.) estar de buen à ¡nimo (to be in a good mood). Mariano explicà ³ que ayer su padre estuvo de buen à ¡nimo. (Mariano explained that yesterday his father was in a good mood.) estar de mà ¡s (to be excessive). La seguridad nunca està ¡ de mà ¡s durante la presencia del presidente. (There is never too much security during the presence of the president.) estar de vuelta (to have returned, to be back): Los campeones està ¡n de vuelta para luchar otra vez. (The champions are back to fight again.) estar en paà ±ales (literally to be in diapers, figuratively to be new at something): Ocurrià ³ cuando nuestra democracia ya estaba en paà ±ales. (It happened when our democracy was just getting started.) estar mal de (un à ³rgano del cuerpo) (to have a bad body part). Roger estaba mal de la espalda y no podà ­a jugar con toda su capacidad. (Roger had a bad back and couldnt play to full capacity.) estar por ver (to remain to be seen). Y està ¡ por ver la respuesta del Gobierno de Espaà ±a. (The response of the Spanish government remains to be seen.) estar sin un cobre, estar sin un duro (to be broke). Recuerdo una à ©poca que yo estaba sin un duro. (I remember a time when I was flat broke.) estar visto (to be obvious). Estaba visto que no era particularmente una buena opcià ³n. (It was obvious that it wasnt particularly a good option.) llegar a estar (to become).  ¿Cà ³mo llegaste a estar delgada tan rà ¡pido? (How did you become thin so quickly?)