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Let's take a look at our first verb, Ser. Ser is very irregular, meaning that it doesn't
follow the pattern of regular verb conjugation. But the English verb "to Be" isn't
regular either! When we say that Ser and "to Be" aren't regular, we mean that they
don't follow the conjugation pattern that we expect from most verbs.
In English we can conjugate "to Walk" the same way we conjugate "to Talk, to Play, to
Study" etc. : I walk, You walk, He/She/It walks, We walk and They walk. But "to Be" is
different: I AM, You ARE, He/she/it IS, We ARE, They ARE. This is what we mean by
irregular.
When we learn other Spanish verbs we will see that the conjugation of Ser ("to Be") is
different from the normal pattern:
Ellos, ellas,
Yo Tú Él, ella, usted Nosotros
ustedes
Soy eres es somos son
Ser refers to things that are an integral part of you, of your identity. For example:
Examples: Notice that I can end each of the English sentences with "Person". This is
because Ser functions like an "=", an equal sign, meaning that what is to the left
inherently equals what is to the right.
Just as in English, the Spanish verbs used most often, verbs which describe life's basic
activities, are irregular. The best way to learn Spanish irregular verbs is through
simple repetition and memorization - just how you learned the English equivalents!
You may have heard that Ser is used for things which are permanent and Estar is
used for things which are temporary. This is an over-simplification and not a good
way to think of these verbs because you will end up with a lot of exceptions and
confusion. Try to forget you ever heard that.
Like Ser, Estar also is translated into English as "to Be". And it is also irregular in form
(it doesn't follow regular conjugation patterns):
Ellos, ellas,
Yo Tú Él, ella, usted Nosotros
ustedes
estoy estás está estamos están
location of things
or people (but
not events!)
emotions (moods
& feelings)
mental conditions
("I'm confused")
physical
condition or
appearance ("I'm
tired" or "You
look nice today!")
motion (the
Present
Progressive: "I am
in the current
state of
drinking coffee
and typing.")
Examples:
Estoy en la clase de
I'm in math class. Location
matemáticas.
Notice when indicating physical location, Estar uses the physical locator
preposition "en." En means "in", "on" and "at" in English when referring to where things
"are physically" (but Estar cannot be used when saying where events "take place" or
"occur" as they have no physical form. See Ser for events and other time-related
uses.)
Students often ask me why Estar is used when saying someone is dead: "Mi perro Fido
está muerto." This is because it is a physical state of being: Just like being sick or
well, tired or energized, your body can be dead or alive.
You may have heard that Ser is used for things which are permanent and Estar is used
for things which are temporary. This is an over-simplification and not a good way to
think of these verbs because you will end up with a lot of exceptions and confusion.
Try to forget you ever heard that.