Ser means to be (what or who something is). Learn five tenses, then practise each person.
Present: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son.
Ser in the present tense
Use the present for current states, habits and actions. The subject can be omitted when the verb makes it clear.
Vosotros is informal plural you in Spain. Ustedes uses the ellos/ellas form and is the usual plural you in Latin America.
Ser is for what someone or something is: soy profesor, I am a teacher; es alto, he is tall.
Ser in the preterite tense
Use the preterite for a completed event in the past, viewed as a whole.
Ser in the imperfect tense
Use the imperfect for past habits, ongoing situations and background descriptions, without marking their endpoint.
Ser in the future tense
Use the simple future for what will happen. Spanish also uses this tense for a guess about the present.
Ser in the conditional tense
Use the conditional for what would happen, a polite request or a hypothetical situation.
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All six persons. Blue, bold forms differ from regular endings, including spelling changes that preserve pronunciation.
| Person | Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Future | Conditional |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | fui | era | seré | sería |
| tú | eres | fuiste | eras | serás | serías |
| él / ella / usted | es | fue | era | será | sería |
| nosotros / nosotras | somos | fuimos | éramos | seremos | seríamos |
| vosotros / vosotras | sois | fuisteis | erais | seréis | seríais |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | son | fueron | eran | serán | serían |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | I am |
| tú | eres | you are |
| él / ella / usted | es | he/she is |
| nosotros / nosotras | somos | we are |
| vosotros / vosotras | sois | you all (vosotros) are |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | son | they are |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | fui | I was |
| tú | fuiste | you were |
| él / ella / usted | fue | he/she was |
| nosotros / nosotras | fuimos | we were |
| vosotros / vosotras | fuisteis | you all (vosotros) were |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | fueron | they were |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | era | I used to be |
| tú | eras | you used to be |
| él / ella / usted | era | he/she used to be |
| nosotros / nosotras | éramos | we used to be |
| vosotros / vosotras | erais | you all (vosotros) used to be |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | eran | they used to be |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | seré | I will be |
| tú | serás | you will be |
| él / ella / usted | será | he/she will be |
| nosotros / nosotras | seremos | we will be |
| vosotros / vosotras | seréis | you all (vosotros) will be |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | serán | they will be |
| Person | Spanish | English |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sería | I would be |
| tú | serías | you would be |
| él / ella / usted | sería | he/she would be |
| nosotros / nosotras | seríamos | we would be |
| vosotros / vosotras | seríais | you all (vosotros) would be |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | serían | they would be |
Ser differs from the regular endings in the present, preterite, imperfect. Changed forms include present: soy, eres, es; preterite: fui, fuiste, fue; imperfect: era, eras, era. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The present forms are soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son, in the order yo, tú, él/ella/usted, nosotros, vosotros and ellos/ellas/ustedes.
fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. For example, fui means “I was”.
Ser differs from the regular endings in the present, preterite, imperfect. Changed forms include present: soy, eres, es; preterite: fui, fuiste, fue; imperfect: era, eras, era. Highlighted forms include spelling changes that preserve pronunciation as well as irregular stems and endings.
The preterite (fui) presents a completed event; the imperfect (era) gives a past habit or background situation. The English glosses are “I was” and “I used to be”, but context determines the best translation.
The yo forms are seré (“I will be”) and sería (“I would be”). The full charts above include every person.
Ser means to be (what or who something is). Ser is for what someone or something is: soy profesor, I am a teacher; es alto, he is tall.
Updated · English prompts, Spanish answers.