Present
| soy | |
| eres | |
| sos | |
| es | |
| somos | |
| sois | |
| son |
- Irregular in every person: soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son
Spanish -er verb
Ser conjugation: soy, fui, era, sea
ser: to be (identity, characteristics)
Ser shares almost nothing with the regular -er pattern. Its present, preterite, imperfect and subjunctive have to be learned as sets; only the future and conditional are regular.
At a glance
Where ser breaks the pattern
Ser is irregular in the present, preterite, imperfect, present subjunctive and affirmative imperative.
Irregular in every person
soy, eres, es, somos, sois, son · Present
Strong preterite stem fu-
fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron · Preterite
One of the three irregular imperfects
era, eras, éramos, erais, eran · Imperfect
Subjunctive stem se-, not built from the yo form
sea, seas, seamos, seáis, sean · Present Subjunctive
Short tú command
The imperfect subjunctive (-ra), imperfect subjunctive (-se), future subjunctive and negative imperative are built from those forms, so they have nothing new to learn.
Quick facts
- sido · regular
- siendo · regular
- Only three affirmative commands have their own forms: tú sé (irregular), vos sé and vosotros sed. Every other command, and every negative one, is the present subjunctive: sea, seamos, sean; no seas.
Focused practice
Practise ser now
Type the forms from memory, irregular ones first.
Conjugation tables for ser
Marked letters break the regular -er pattern. Vosotros: Spain. Vos: voseo regions such as Argentina.
Indicative
Preterite
| fui | |
| fuiste | |
| fuiste | |
| fue | |
| fuimos | |
| fuisteis | |
| fueron |
- Strong preterite stem fu-: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron
Imperfect
| era | |
| eras | |
| eras | |
| era | |
| éramos | |
| erais | |
| eran |
- One of the three irregular imperfects: era, eras, era, éramos, erais, eran
Future
| seré | |
| serás | |
| serás | |
| será | |
| seremos | |
| seréis | |
| serán |
Present Perfect
| he sido | |
| has sido | |
| has sido | |
| ha sido | |
| hemos sido | |
| habéis sido | |
| han sido |
- haber + sido
Past Perfect
| había sido | |
| habías sido | |
| habías sido | |
| había sido | |
| habíamos sido | |
| habíais sido | |
| habían sido |
- haber + sido
Future Perfect
| habré sido | |
| habrás sido | |
| habrás sido | |
| habrá sido | |
| habremos sido | |
| habréis sido | |
| habrán sido |
- haber + sido
Conditional
Conditional
| sería | |
| serías | |
| serías | |
| sería | |
| seríamos | |
| seríais | |
| serían |
Conditional Perfect
| habría sido | |
| habrías sido | |
| habrías sido | |
| habría sido | |
| habríamos sido | |
| habríais sido | |
| habrían sido |
- haber + sido
Subjunctive
Present Subjunctive
| sea | |
| seas | |
| seas | |
| sea | |
| seamos | |
| seáis | |
| sean |
- Subjunctive stem se-, not built from the yo form: sea, seas, sea, seamos, seáis, sean
Imperfect Subjunctive (-ra)
| fuera | |
| fueras | |
| fueras | |
| fuera | |
| fuéramos | |
| fuerais | |
| fueran |
- Built on the preterite ellos form fueron
Imperfect Subjunctive (-se)
| fuese | |
| fueses | |
| fueses | |
| fuese | |
| fuésemos | |
| fueseis | |
| fuesen |
- Built on the preterite ellos form fueron
Future Subjunctive
| fuere | |
| fueres | |
| fueres | |
| fuere | |
| fuéremos | |
| fuereis | |
| fueren |
- Built on the preterite ellos form fueron
Present Perfect Subjunctive
| haya sido | |
| hayas sido | |
| hayas sido | |
| haya sido | |
| hayamos sido | |
| hayáis sido | |
| hayan sido |
- haber + sido
Past Perfect Subjunctive
| hubiera sido | |
| hubieras sido | |
| hubieras sido | |
| hubiera sido | |
| hubiéramos sido | |
| hubierais sido | |
| hubieran sido |
- haber + sido
Future Perfect Subjunctive
| hubiere sido | |
| hubieres sido | |
| hubieres sido | |
| hubiere sido | |
| hubiéremos sido | |
| hubiereis sido | |
| hubieren sido |
- haber + sido
Imperative
Affirmative Imperative
| sé | |
| sé | |
| sea | |
| seamos | |
| sed | |
| sean |
- Short tú command: sé
- Built on the present subjunctive
Negative Imperative
| no seas | |
| no seas | |
| no sea | |
| no seamos | |
| no seáis | |
| no sean |
- Built on the present subjunctive
Usage
Ser, estar and the forms ser shares with ir
Ser identifies and classifies: what something is, what it is made of, where it is from, whose it is and what time it is. Es médica, es de madera, somos de Chile, son las tres. Estar describes states and locations: está cansada, el libro está en la mesa.
Events are the exception to the location rule. The place where something happens takes ser: la fiesta es en mi casa, but mi casa está en el centro.
Some adjectives change meaning between the two verbs: es listo (he’s clever) but está listo (he’s ready); es aburrido (he’s boring) but está aburrido (he’s bored).
The preterite of ser is identical to the preterite of ir. Fui profesor means “I was a teacher”; fui a Madrid means “I went to Madrid”. The words after the verb settle it, and the same overlap runs through the subjunctive: si fuera rico (if I were rich), quería que fuera con ella (she wanted me to go with her).
Easy to confuse
- The whole preterite is shared with ir: fui, fuiste, fue, fuimos, fuisteis, fueron. Only context tells them apart.
- The whole imperfect subjunctive (-ra) is shared with ir: fuera, fueras, fuéramos, fuerais, fueran. Only context tells them apart.
ser in sentences
-
Actualmente, soy docente en una escuela de idiomas.
I am currently a teacher at a language school.
-
Anoche yo fui quien cerró la tienda.
Last night I was the one who closed the shop.
-
Cada vez que jugábamos a las tiendas, yo era quien cobraba.
Whenever we played shops, I was the one who took the payments.
-
Algún día, seré capaz de leer en cinco idiomas.
Someday, I will be able to read in five languages.
-
Si tuviera más paciencia, yo sería mejor docente.
If I had more patience, I would be a better teacher.
-
Es importante que yo sea puntual en el trabajo.
It is important that I be punctual at work.
-
La directora quería que yo fuera responsable del proyecto.
The director wanted me to be in charge of the project.
Check yourself
Try before revealing
Yo ___. (ser · present)
Say or form the answer before you check it.
Try before revealing
Yo ___. (ser · preterite)
Say or form the answer before you check it.
Try before revealing
Tú, ___. (ser · command)
Say or form the answer before you check it.
Try before revealing
Yo ___. (ser · present subjunctive)
Say or form the answer before you check it.