Ser Conjugation – The Complete Guide
Ser Conjugation – The Complete Guide
Ser Conjugation: Where are you from? What is your profession? What do you look like? In order to answer these and thousands of questions in Spanish, we need to use the verb ser (sehr; ‘to be’). This is normally the very first verb we learn in order to introduce ourselves and talk about nationality, profession, and loads of other subjects.
Spanish verbs fall into different groups, and every group is conjugated a little differently. If you’re going to master Spanish verbs like ser, you need to be able to identify which group a verb belongs to: regular (follows regular conjugation rules for -ar, -er, and -ir verbs), stem-changing (morphs depending on how you check it in a sentence), spelling-changing (has consonant-spelling changes in some forms to follow pronunciation rules), or reflexive (reflects the action back on the subject of the sentence).
But then there are those verbs that refuse to be lumped into a category: the irregulars. Ser(sehr) (to be) is an irregular -er verb; it doesn’t follow most easy ending patterns, so your best bet is to just memorize its conjugations.
Conjugation Of Ser
The verb ser is irregular in the present tense, which only means we will need to learn every conjugation by heart. All of them, except for the second and third person singular, keep the s- from the stem. Let’s review how to conjugate ser in present simple tense with a helpful table:
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo soy | I am |
| tú eres | You (informal) are |
| él/ella/ello/uno es | He/she/one is |
| usted es | You (formal) are |
| nosotros somos | We are |
| vosotros sois | You all (informal) are |
| ellos/ellas son | They are |
| ustedes son | You all (formal) are |
The following examples show you ser in action:
-
La boda es el veintisiete de junio. (The wedding is the 27th of June.)
-
Ellos son mis abuelos. (They are my grandparents.)
The following table shows you ser at work in the preterit tense. Think you’ve seen these conjugations before? You probably have; it just so happens that they’re also the preterit forms of the verb ir (to go). It may be confusing, but look on the bright side: It’s one fewer set of verbs you have to learn.
Ser Conjugation Chart
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo fui | I was |
| tú fuiste | You (informal) were |
| él/ella/ello/uno fue | He/she/one was |
| usted fue | You (formal) were |
| nosotros fuimos | We were |
| vosotros fuisteis | You all (informal) were |
| ellos/ellas fueron | They were |
| ustedes fueron | You all (formal) were |
You use the preterit tense like this:
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Fuimos al baile anoche. (We went to the dance last night.)
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Fui a verte en tu casa. (I went to see you at your house.)
Ser is one of only three irregular imperfect verbs. Here’s that conjugation; note that, like regular verbs, the first-person and third-person singular forms (yo and usted) are the same.
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo era | I used to be |
| tú eras | You (informal) used to be |
| él/ella/ello/uno era | He/she/one used to be |
| usted era | You (formal) used to be |
| nosotros éramos | We used to be |
| vosotros erais | You all (informal) used to be |
| ellos/ellas eran | They used to be |
| ustedes eran | You all (formal) used to be |
Here are some examples of the imperfect tense
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Eramos futbolistas. (We used to be soccer players.)
-
Shakespeare era un gran escritor. (Shakespeare was a great writer.)
Good news! Ser is regular in the future tense, so you can apply the regular verb endings here.
| Conjugation | Translation |
|---|---|
| yo seré | I will be |
| tú serás | You (informal) will be |
| él/ella/ello/uno será | He/she/one will be |
| usted será | You (formal) will be |
| nosotros seremos | We will be |
| vosotros seréis | You all (informal) will be |
| ellos/ellas serán | They will be |
| ustedes serán | You all (formal) will be |
Ser And Estar Conjugation
The verb ser is one of the two Spanish verbs that only mean “to be.” The other one is the verb estar. The verb ser is irregular, meaning it does not succeed in a common conjugation pattern. In fact, ser is one of the irregularly conjugated verbs in Spanish. Many of the conjugated forms don’t even start with s, and some forms are shared with the highly irregular verb ir (to go).
This article takes the ser conjugations in the present, past, conditional and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms.
Ser and Estar are some of the most commonly taken verbs in Spanish. Although they both mean “to be,” they are used in very different contexts. Ser is often used to learn about inherent or permanent characteristics. example, Ella es alta e inteligente (She is tall and smart). It is also used to learn about someone’s profession or occupation, as in Ella es doctora y él es arquitecto (She is a doctor and he is an engineer), or to learn about where someone is from, as in El profesor es de Puerto Rico (The professor is from Puerto Rico).
Ser can be used to talk about what something is made of, as in La puerta es de madera (The door is made of wood), or to talk about the location of an event, such as a meeting, party, festival, etc. example, La reunión es en la oficina del doctor (The meeting is in the doctor’s office).
This verb is also used to talk about belonging. For example, La casa es de Alberto (The house is Alberto’s). Another think of the verb ser is in the passive voice, followed by the present participle, as in La tarea es hecha por el estudiante (The homework is done by the student).
Yet another think of the verb ser is with impersonal expressions, such as Es necesario trabajar duro (It is necessary to work hard).
Notice that in Spanish we do not use the verb ser to talk about someone’s age like we do in English (She is ten years old), but instead we use the verb tener to talk about how many years someone has (Ella tiene diez años).
Ser Conjugation Spanish
Verbals are not what they seem to be. They seem to be verbs, but they are not. Verbals derive from verbs, and they function as nouns or modifiers. These are the verbals that derive from the verb ser.
Infinitive: ser
Gerund: siendo
Participle: sido
You will find 10 different verb tenses in the Spanish indicative mood. All of them are regularly used in conversations; however, the tenses “pretérito anterior” and “futuro compuesto” are not used as frequently as the rest of the tenses.
Tiempos Simples – Simple Tenses
Presente – Present Tense
- yo soy – I am
- tú eres – you are
- vos sos – you (South American) are
- él/ella/usted es – he/she/you (formal) are
- nosotros/as somos – we are
- vosotros/as sois – you (plural) are
- ustedes son – you (plural) are
- ellos/as son – they are
Pretérito Imperfecto – Imperfect Tense
- yo era – I was
- tú eras – you were
- vos eras – you (South American) were
- él/ella/usted era – he/she/you (formal) were
- nosotros/as éramos – we were
- vosotros/as erais – you (plural) were
- ustedes eran – you (plural) were
- ellos/as eran – they were
Pretérito Perfecto – Preterite Tense
- yo fui – I was
- tú fuiste – you were
- vos fuiste – you (South American) were
- él/ella/usted fue – he/she/you (formal) were
- nosotros/as fuimos – we were
- vosotros/as fuisteis – you (plural) were
- ustedes fueron – you (plural) were
- ellos/as fueron – they were
Futuro – Future Tense
- yo seré – I will be
- tú serás – you will be
- vos serás – you (South American) will be
- él/ella/usted será – he/she/you (formal) will be
- nosotros/as seremos – we will be
- vosotros/as seréis – you (plural) will be
- ustedes serán – you (plural) will be
- ellos/as serán – they will be
Condicional – Conditional Tense
- yo sería – I would be
- tú serías – you would be
- vos serías – you (South American) would be
- él/ella/usted sería – he/she/you (formal) would be
- nosotros/as seríamos – we would be
- vosotros/as seríais – you (plural) would be
- ustedes serían – you (plural) would be
- ellos/as serían – they would be
What is SER used for?
Ser is used in a simple way, to talk about WHAT something is (a permanent state). To describe characteristics that are an essential part of the thing we’re talking about. Estar is used to talk about HOW something is, so we use it for conditions, locations, emotions, and actions (temporary states).
What tense is the sea?
The past tense of loose for the sea is loosed for the sea. The third-person singular simple present indicative form of loose for the sea is loosed for the sea.