Using the Spanish ‘Estar’ With Prepositions

Using the Spanish ‘Estar’ With Prepositions The verb estar is frequently followed by a preposition in ways that are uncommon with the English equivalent to be. Here are some of the common combinations: Estar a Estar a doesnt have a consistent meaning, although it is used in a variety of contexts. It can often convey the idea of being at or in a situation. As in the first four examples, it is often used this way in the first-personal plural or we form. Estmos a tres dà ­as del inicio de los juegos. (We are three days away from the games. Literally, we are at three days from the start of the games.)Estamos a 14 de febrero. (Today is Feb. 14. Literally, we are at Feb. 14.)Estamos a 30 grados. (It is 30 degrees. Literally, we are at 30 degrees.)Mi hermana est a oscuras. (My sister is ignorant of whats going on. Somewhat literally, my sister is in the dark.) Estar con In addition to indicating who someone is with, estar con can be used to indicate illnesses, what a person is wearing, and other characteristics: Tengo un amiga que est con la influenza porcina. (I have a friend who has swine flu.)Hay dà ­as que estoy con dolor constante. (There are days Im in constant pain.)Estaba con pantalones cortos y una playera blanca. (He was wearing short pants and a white T-shirt.)Cuando estamos con prisa, es fcil pasar por alto algunas prcticas de seguridad. (When were in a hurry, its easy to overlook some safety measures.)La carne estaba con mal olor. (The meat smelled bad.)Estamos con duda sobre estos medicamentos. (We are in doubt about these medications.) Estar de Temporary situations including roles, employment, and emotions are often expressed using estar de. Some examples: La red social ms popular est de cumpleaà ±os. (The most popular social network is having a birthday.)No te pongas serio. Estaba de broma. (Dont take it seriously. He was joking.)Estoy de acuerdo contigo. (I agree with you.)Mi hermano est de chofer. (My brother is working as a driver.)Estamos de vacaciones. (Were on vacation.) ¿Quà © tipos de vestidos estn de moda? (What types of clothing are in style?)Los Smith estn de aniversario. (Its the Smiths anniversary.)Los conductores estn de huelga. (The drivers are on strike.)El jefe est de un humor muy feo. (The boss is in a very ugly mood.) Estar en Estar en is often used much like to be in. Est en buena condicià ³n la carretera. (The road is in good condition.)Las autoridades locales estaban en conflicto con los operadores de turismo. (The local authorities were in conflict with the tourism operators.)Esta pgina web est en construccià ³n. (This web page is under construction.) Estar por When followed by a noun, estar por typically means to be in favor of someone or something. Estoy por la inmigracià ³n legal. (I am for legal immigration.)No es verdad que todos està ©n por la democracia. (It isnt true that everyone is for democracy.) When estar por is followed by an infinitive, it can mean that the the infinitives action has yet to occur. Often, estar por followed by an infinitive suggests that the action will occur soon. Estoy por salir de viaje desde Buenos Aires a Asuncià ³n. (I am about to leave on a trip from Buenos Aires to Asuncià ³n.)Raquel estaba por comer cuando se dio cuenta de que todos la estaban mirando. (Raquel was about to eat when she noticed that everyone was looking at her.) ¡Estamos por comenzar nuevas aventuras! (Were on the verge of beginning new adventures!) Estar sin Estar sin is used much like estar con but with the opposite meaning. (Of course, it can also mean to be without): De momento estoy sin dolor. (At the moment Im not in pain.)Unas 8.000 personas estaban sin hogar en la ciudad. (There are some 8,000 homeless people in the city.)Estoy sin dinero y sin amigos. (I am penniless and friendless.) Estar sobre Although estar sobre is usually used literally to indicate being above a person or thing, it can also be used figuratively in a way similar to the English stay on top of, meaning to closely watch or supervise. En el trabajo no es necesario estar sobre los millennials. (On the job, it isnt necessary to keep a close eye on millennials.)Todo el tiempo estoy sobre mis hijos para que estudien. (Im always hounding my children so that they study.)

A Primer on Arc Elasticity

A Primer on Arc Elasticity One of the problems with the standard formulas for elasticity that are in many freshman texts is the elasticity figure you come up with is different depending on what you use as the start point and what you use as the endpoint. An example will help illustrate this. When we looked at Price Elasticity of Demand, we calculated the price elasticity of demand when the price went from $9 to $10 and demand went from 150 to 110 was 2.4005. But what if we calculated what the price elasticity of demand when we started at $10 and went to $9? So wed have: Price(OLD)10Price(NEW)9QDemand(OLD)110QDemand(NEW)150 First wed calculate the percentage change in quantity demanded: [QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / QDemand(OLD) By filling in the values we wrote down, we get: [150 - 110] / 110 (40/110) 0.3636 (Again we leave this in decimal form) Then wed calculate the percentage change in price: [Price(NEW) - Price(OLD)] / Price(OLD) By filling in the values we wrote down, we get: [9 - 10] / 10 (-1/10) -0.1 We then use these figures to calculate the price-elasticity of demand: PEoD (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Price) We can now fill in the two percentages in this equation using the figures we calculated earlier. PEoD (0.3636)/(-0.1) -3.636 When calculating a price elasticity, we drop the negative sign, so our final value is 3.636. Obviously, 3.6 is a lot different from 2.4, so we see that this way of measuring price elasticity is quite sensitive to which of your two points you choose as your new point, and which you choose as your old point. Arc elasticities are a way of removing this problem. When calculating Arc Elasticities, the basic relationships stay the same. So when were calculating Price Elasticity of Demand we still use the basic formula: PEoD (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Price) However, how we calculate the percentage changes differ. Before when we calculated Price Elasticity of Demand, Price Elasticity of Supply,  Income Elasticity of Demand, or Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand wed calculate the percentage change in Quantity Demand the following way: [QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / QDemand(OLD) To calculate an arc-elasticity, we use the following formula: [[QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / [QDemand(OLD) QDemand(NEW)]]*2 This formula takes an average of the old quantity demanded and the new quantity demanded on the denominator. By doing so, we will get the same answer (in absolute terms) by choosing $9 as old and $10 as new, as we would choosing $10 as old and $9 as new. When we use arc elasticities we do not need to worry about which point is the starting point and which point is the ending point. This benefit comes at the cost of a more difficult calculation. If we take the example with: Price(OLD)9Price(NEW)10QDemand(OLD)150QDemand(NEW)110 We will get a percentage change of: [[QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / [QDemand(OLD) QDemand(NEW)]]*2 [[110 - 150] / [150 110]]*2 [[-40]/[260]]*2 -0.1538 * 2 -0.3707 So we get a percentage change of -0.3707 (or -37% in percentage terms). If we swap the old and new values for old and new, the denominator will be the same, but we will get 40 in the numerator instead, giving us an answer of the 0.3707. When we calculate the percentage change in price, we will get the same values except one will be positive and the other negative. When we calculate our final answer, we will see that the elasticities will be the same and have the same sign. To conclude this piece, Ill include the formulas so you can calculate the arc versions of price elasticity of demand, price elasticity of supply, income elasticity, and cross-price demand elasticity. We recommend calculating each of the measures using the step-by-step fashion we detail in the previous articles. New Formulas: Arc Price Elasticity of Demand PEoD (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Price) (% Change in Quantity Demanded) [[QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / [QDemand(OLD) QDemand(NEW)]] *2] (% Change in Price) [[Price(NEW) - Price(OLD)] / [Price(OLD) Price(NEW)]] *2] New Formulas: Arc Price Elasticity of Supply PEoS (% Change in Quantity Supplied)/(% Change in Price) (% Change in Quantity Supplied) [[QSupply(NEW) - QSupply(OLD)] / [QSupply(OLD) QSupply(NEW)]] *2] (% Change in Price) [[Price(NEW) - Price(OLD)] / [Price(OLD) Price(NEW)]] *2] New Formulas: Arc Income Elasticity of Demand PEoD (% Change in Quantity Demanded)/(% Change in Income) (% Change in Quantity Demanded) [[QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / [QDemand(OLD) QDemand(NEW)]] *2] (% Change in Income) [[Income(NEW) - Income(OLD)] / [Income(OLD) Income(NEW)]] *2] New Formulas: Arc Cross-Price Elasticity of Demand of Good X PEoD (% Change in Quantity Demanded of X)/(% Change in Price of Y) (% Change in Quantity Demanded) [[QDemand(NEW) - QDemand(OLD)] / [QDemand(OLD) QDemand(NEW)]] *2] (% Change in Price) [[Price(NEW) - Price(OLD)] / [Price(OLD) Price(NEW)]] *2] Notes and Conclusion So now you can calculate elasticity using a simple formula as well as using the arc formula. In a future article, we will look at using calculus to compute elasticities. If youd like to ask a question about the elasticities, microeconomics, macroeconomics or any other topic or comment on this story, please use the feedback form.