LinguaOne verb for who you are
You already know soy from "Soy Ana" and eres from "¿De dónde eres?". Both belong to ser, the verb that says what someone or something IS: a name, an origin, a profession, a quality. Spanish keeps a second verb, estar, for where things are and how they feel; you will meet it later. Today is only ser.
| Pronoun | Form of ser | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| yo | soy | I am |
| tú | eres | you are (informal) |
| él / ella / usted | es | he is / she is / you are (formal) |
| nosotros / nosotras | somos | we are |
| vosotros / vosotras | sois | you all are (Spain) |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | son | they are / you all are |
Four jobs of ser
| What ser says | Example |
|---|---|
| who someone is | Soy Marta. Él es Pedro. |
| where someone is from | Somos de Perú. |
| what someone does for a living | Ella es médica. |
| what something is like | La casa es grande. |
The ending already says who is speaking, so Spanish usually leaves the pronoun out: Soy médico, not "yo soy médico". You add yo, tú, ella only to contrast or insist: "Yo soy de Lima, y tú eres de Quito". One trap: es serves three people at once, he, she and the polite usted, so when it is not clear, name the person.
Pedro es camarero y yo soy médica.Pedro is a waiter and I am a doctor.
¿Sois de Madrid? No, somos de Sevilla.Are you from Madrid? No, we are from Seville.
A profession takes no article
In Spanish the profession comes straight after the verb, with nothing in between: Soy profesor, not "soy un profesor", even though English says "I am a teacher". The same for students, doctors and waiters: Es camarero, Somos estudiantes. The little word un appears only when you describe the person further: "Es un profesor muy bueno".
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ser | to be (identity, origin, profession) | El verbo ser tiene seis formas. The verb ser has six forms. |
| el estudiante | student (male; la estudiante for a woman) | Carlos es estudiante de español. Carlos is a student of Spanish. |
| el profesor | teacher (male) | El profesor es de Colombia. The teacher is from Colombia. |
| la profesora | teacher (female) | Mi profesora se llama Lucía. My teacher is called Lucía. |
| el médico | doctor (male) | Mi amigo Pablo es médico. My friend Pablo is a doctor. |
| la médica | doctor (female) | La médica se llama Elena. The doctor is called Elena. |
| el camarero | waiter | El camarero es de Cuba. The waiter is from Cuba. |
| el amigo | friend (male) | Juan es amigo de Pedro. Juan is Pedro's friend. |
| la amiga | friend (female) | Marta es mi amiga. Marta is my friend. |
| la persona | person | Marta es una buena persona. Marta is a good person. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Which form of ser goes with nosotros?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.