Ser: conjugation, the five things it is for, and examples
Ser is the Spanish verb "to be" used for names, nationalities, occupations, relationships, and permanent physical or personality traits. Its present tense is soy, eres, es, somos, son. Sentences follow subject + ser + complement, with "no" before the verb for the negative.
Draft copy. Every claim needs a native-speaker check before publishing — the byline is what makes this citable, so it has to be earned.
The conjugation
| Pronoun | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | soy abogado |
| tú | eres | eres abogado |
| usted / él / ella | es | es abogada |
| nosotros / nosotras | somos | somos abogados |
| ustedes / ellos / ellas | son | son abogadas |
Five forms, all irregular, none derivable from the infinitive. There is no trick — this one is memorised. The good news is that you will use it forty times a day, so it lands fast.
The five jobs
1. Names. Ella es Verónica. Soy Jhoslyn.
2. Nationality and origin. Ricardo es colombiano. Somos de Lima.
3. Occupation. Yo soy profesor. ¿Tú eres abogado? Note there is no article — soy profesor, never soy un profesor, unless you add a description.
4. Relationships. Tú eres papá. Ellos son amigos. Ella es mi hermana.
5. Physical and personality traits — the lasting kind. Él es alto. La casa es grande. Las clases son divertidas. Marcos no es grosero.
That fifth job is where ser and estar start competing, and it is worth knowing now that the dividing line is not permanence exactly — it is whether you are naming what something is or reporting what state it is in.
The three sentence shapes
Affirmative — subject + ser + complement.
- Nosotros somos actores. — We are actors.
- La casa es grande. — The house is big.
Negative — subject + no + ser + complement. The no goes directly in front of the verb, and nothing else changes.
- Ellos no son amigos.
- Marcos no es grosero.
Question — ¿ + subject + ser + complement + ?
- ¿Tú eres abogado?
- ¿Ellos son dentistas?
Spanish does not need an auxiliary verb to ask a question — there is no equivalent of English do. The word order can stay exactly as it was; the question marks and the rising intonation do the work. Both marks are compulsory in writing, the opening ¿ included.
Try it
Take one fact about yourself and say it three ways.
- Soy profesora.
- No soy profesora.
- ¿Soy profesora?
Then swap the subject: Ella es profesora. Ella no es profesora. ¿Ella es profesora? The complement never moves. Once that pattern is automatic, the same three shapes will carry you through estar with no extra work.
Next
→ Estar: conjugation, and the four things it is for
Topics Ser and estarThe present
Ser, and the five jobs it does
Seven questions on the five forms of *ser*, what it is for, and the three sentence shapes built on it.
-
1*Nosotros ___ actores.*
Answer
somos — *Somos* is the *nosotros* form. *Sois* is the *vosotros* form, which you will never need in Peru — *ustedes son* covers every plural you.
-
2*Ella ___ mi hermana.*
Answer
es — Relationships take *ser*, and *ella* takes *es*. *Está* would be describing a state she is in, which is not what a sister is.
-
3How does a lawyer say what he does?
Answer
Soy abogado. — Occupations take *ser* and no article. *Soy un abogado* is the English article smuggled in; *soy el abogado* would mean you are the lawyer on some specific case.
-
4Which is “they are not friends”?
Answer
Ellos no son amigos. — *No* goes directly in front of the verb and nothing else changes. That one position covers every negative in this tense.
-
5To turn *tú eres abogado* into a question, Spanish does not need:
Answer
an auxiliary verb — there is no equivalent of English *do* — The word order can stay exactly as it was; the question marks and rising intonation do the work. Both marks are compulsory in writing, the opening *¿* included.
-
6*Las clases ___ divertidas.*
Answer
son — This is a lasting trait of the classes, so *ser*. *Están divertidas* would report how they happen to be feeling today, which is a different claim.
-
7Which of these is *not* a job of *ser*?
Answer
where something is right now — Location always takes *estar*, with no judgement call: *¿dónde está el baño?* The other three are three of the five jobs of *ser*.