Hola,
Could you provide a few (more) examples of the use of the verb 'to cost' something?
What sorts of things does it cover (or could you use it for everything)?
Everything fluctuates in price, so are we talking about things that we concentrate our daily lives on (sometimes obsess about!): stock market/ currency, houses, petrol, food, drink? Things we think of as fluctuating day to day?
Gracias,
Hola Stuart,
When we use the verb "estar" + a in Spanish meaning "to cost", we can be talking about very different things/items, from petrol to bananas. Because, as you were saying, prices change all the time, we can use it with anything really.
The nuance of this usage of "estar + a" is to express a price at that moment of speaking, so to ask or say what something costs that day. If I go to the grocery I could ask the man/lady:
¿A cuánto están los plátanos [hoy]?
(How much do the bananas cost [today]? / What is the price of the bananas [today]? How much are the bananas [today]?)
He/she would reply:
"Los plátanos están a 3 euros el kilo."
(The bananas cost [today] 3 euros a kilo.)
The difference between using the more literal "cuesta/cuestan" and using the more idiomatic "está/están a..." is that the latter gives that nuance of "its price today".
I hope this clarified your doubt. I will extend the lesson a bit so there is an extra explanation reflecting this clearly.
Gracias y saludos.
Inma
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