Spanish Verb Ser - "To be"

Spanish Verb Ser - "To be"

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To Be or Not to Be

In English we know the forms of the verb “to be” without thinking. I am. You are. We are. They are.

In Spanish, each verb changes to reflect the subject of the verb, as well as the tense (such as present, past, or future). These changes are called conjugations.

The following table shows the conjugations of the verb ser in the present tense.

 

Por ejemplo:

 

Drop the Subject

Each conjugation is so precise that you usually don’t need to include a subject at all! In Spanish you can simply say the verb:

 

Talking about Whose It is and Where You’re From

The word “de” is widely used with the verb ser. It means “of” when used to indicate possession and “from” when used to indicate origin.

Por ejemplo:

1. ¿De quién es el zapato?
- Whose shoe is this?
(Literally: Of whom is this shoe?)

2. El zapato es de Mateo.
- It is Matthew’s shoe.
(Literally: The shoe is of Matthew.)

3. Esos son los pasaportes de mis padres.
- Those are my parents’ passports.
(Literally: Those are the passports of my parents.)

4. ¿De dónde es Eduardo?
- Where does Edward come from?
(Literally: From where is Edward?)

5. Eduardo es de España.
- Edward is from Spain.

 

Talking about What You Do for a Living

The verb ser is used to describe occupation. Note that in Spanish you will say, “She is professor” (Ella es profesora), NOT “She is a professor” (Ella es una profesora). When talking about occupation, you should not include either un or una.

Por ejemplo:

 

Be Careful with “To Be” Verbs

Unlike English, there are TWO verbs for “to be” in Spanish! You’ll learn about the second “to be” verb (estar, which describes location, health, or temporary characteristics) in Chapter 2.4.

 

In the next section we’ll work on How to Say Numbers in Spanish

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