May 19, 2010

Ser in Spanish: When to Use It!

In Spanish, there are not too many irregular Spanish verbs that carry the same importance as the verb ser; the verb estar which also means ‘to be‘, tener ‘to have’ and haber, also meaning ‘to have’ , but used extensively as an auxiliary verb in the Perfect tenses, are probably the three verbs that come closest in importance.

However, it really is irrelevant which verb an individual may believe is most important the use of and the conjugation of ser is where the majority of students begin which therefore underlines it’s importance!

Ser is a difficult verb with which to start learning because it has a lot of irregular formations in many of it’s tenses, prior to studying these irregular conjugations it is best to know when ser is used.

In English the verb ‘to be’ has always been taken for granted as the vast majority of English speakers learned how to conjugate it at such an early age that most of us probably cannot recall ever doing so, however, unlike English, Spanish verb conjugation is much more complicated and Spanish has two verbs that both mean ‘to be’, and they are ser and estar as mentioned previously, each of these verbs is utilized at different times; although here we will only be focusing on Ser.

When to Use the Spanish Verb Ser

Identity: Es Juan – He is Juan
Possession: El Coche es de Danny – The car is Danny’s
Origin: Mis amigos son de Barcelona – My friends are from Barcelona
Nationality: Soy inglés – I am English
Occupation: Somos profesores – We are teachers
Material of which something is made: La casa es de oro – The house is made of gold
Inherent Characteristics: Juan es muy corto – Juan is very short
Expressions of time: Son las seis – It is six o’clock, Mañana es lunes – Tomorrow is Monday
Impersonal Expressions: Es mejor esperar – It is better to wait, Es difícil contestar – It is difficult to answer