The Verb Ser

Let's take a look at our first verb, Ser . Ser is very irregular, meaning that it doesn't follow the pattern of regular verb conjugation.) But the English verb "to Be" isn't regular either! When we say that Ser and "to Be" aren't regular, we mean that they don't follow a pattern we expect from most verbs.

In English we can conjugate "to Walk" the same way we conjugate "to Talk, to Play, to Study" etc. : I walk, You walk, He/She/It walks, We walk and They walk. But "to Be" is different: I AM, You ARE, He/she/it IS, We ARE, They ARE. This is what we mean by irregular.

When we learn other Spanish verbs we will see that the conjugation of Ser ("to Be") is different from the normal pattern:

Yo	Tú	Él, ella, usted	Nosotros	Ellos, ellas, ustedes
Soy	eres	es	somos	son

Ser refers to things that are an integral part of you, of your identity. For example:

1) Personality and character
2) Nationality
3) Physical characteristics
4) Race
5) Gender
6) Origen
7) Identity (name and title)
8) Profession

We also use Ser for

Events (these "occur")
Time (hour, date, day, year etc.)

Examples:

Soy simpática.	I am a nice person.
Soy norteamericana.	I am North American.
Soy alta y rubia.	I am tall and blonde.
Soy galesa.	I am Welsh.
Soy mujer.	I am a woman.
Soy de California.	I am from California.
Soy profe Lemon.	I'm profe Lemon.
Soy instructora.	I'm an instructor.
La clase de español es a las diez y media de la mañana.	Spanish class is at 10:30 am.
El concierto de Maná es el viernes.	The Maná concert is on Friday.
Son las tres.	It's three o'clock.

Just as in English, the Spanish verbs used most often, verbs which describe life's basic activities, are irregular. Like the Spanish Ser, the English verb "to Be" is very irregular: I am, you are, it is, etc. The best way to learn Spanish irregular verbs is through simple repetition and memorization - just how you learned the English equivalents!

Practice with Ser!

To the Ser vs. Estar page!

Back to grammar page!