| El trabajo es buen compañero de la esperanza.[1] |
| —MARTÍNEZ SIERRA. |
1. English to be is generally translated into Spanish by ser or estar, the former with the general idea of permanency, the latter indicating temporary state. Location is always expressed by estar.
I, who was white, am also brown, because the sun has kissed me.
Yo, que era blanca, estoy también morena, porque el sol me ha besado.—MARTÍNEZ SIERRA.
(a) In expressions referring to the weather to be is rendered by hacer, to make, the descriptive adjective becoming in Spanish a noun of corresponding meaning.
It was suffocatingly hot.
Hacía un calor sofocante.—PALACIO VALDÉS.
It was very cold in the city to-day.
Hacía mucho frío hoy en la ciudad.
Note.—In all such expressions very must be translated mucho, since calor, frío, etc., are nouns.