How to Conjugate the Spanish Verb Ser (2024)

The verb seris one of thetwoSpanishverbs that mean "to be."The other one is the verbestar. The verbseris irregular, meaningit does not follow a commonconjugationpattern. In fact, ser is one of the most irregularly conjugated verbs in Spanish. Many of the conjugated forms don't even begin with s, and some forms are shared with the highly irregular verb ir (to go).

This article includestheser conjugations in the present, past, conditional and future indicative, the present and past subjunctive, the imperative, and other verb forms.

Using the Verb Ser

Serandestarare some of the most commonly used verbs in Spanish. Although they both mean "to be," they are used in very different contexts. Ser is often used to talk about inherent or permanent characteristics. For example,Ella es alta e inteligente (She is tall and smart). It is also used to talk 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 talk 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. For 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 use of the verbseris 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 use 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 Present Indicative

The conjugations for ser in the present indicative tense are totally irregular. The first person singular conjugation soy is similar to other verbs like dar (doy), estar (estoy) and ir (voy).