Future - North Buncombe High

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
Spanish class is at 10:30 am.
mañana.
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!