Spanish Verb Ser

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.

Spanish Verb Ser — Conjunctions

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

Singular Subject

Plural Subject

Yo (I)

soy

Nosotros/as (we)

somos

Tú (familiar you)

eres

Vosotros/as (familiar you)

sois

Ud., él, ella (polite you, he, she)

Uds, ellos, ellas (you, them)

son

Por ejemplo:

Yo soy de España

I am from Spain

Tú eres joven

You are young

Ella es profesora

She is a teacher

Nosotros somos de Nueva Zelanda

We are from New Zealand

Ustedes son muy inteligentes

You are all very intelligent

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:

• Soy de España • Eres joven • Somos de Nueva Zelanda

Spanish Verb Ser – 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:

¿De quién es el zapato?

Whose shoe is this? Literally: "Of whom is this shoe?"

El zapato es de Mateo

It is Matthew's shoe. Literally: "The shoe is of Matthew."

Esos son los pasaportes de mis padres

Those are my parents' passports (Literally: Those are the passports of my parents.)

¿De dónde es Eduardo?

Where does Edward come from? Literally: "From where is Edward?"

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: