This study identifies and analyzes the main factors that influence the selection of the copulative verbs ser and estar plus adjectives in Spanish. The explanations offered by various linguists for the choice of ser and estar with adjectives are examined and shown to be insufficient or inappropriate because the issue is seen from a single perspective, without considering all of the semantic and pragmatic factors influencing copula choice in context. An informal corpus of examples taken from Lbero, a Peruvian daily news, is used to supplement the examples created by the author. It is concluded that the appropriate use of ser versus estar plus adjectives is not only related to the lexical meaning of the adjective with which it appears, but is also highly influenced by pragmatic-conditioning factors involving [objectivity] and [contextuality] where the communicative intention of the speaker determines the use of one copulative verb or the other.