Gram&aacute;tica: El presente de ser

Gramática: El presente de ser

Photo in black and white taken behind young woman seated on hillside gazing at the town below, graffiti on bench says "No somos invisibles" — "No somos invisibles" by Bruno Malfondet is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.

El presente de ser / the present indicative of ser (to be)
Spanish	English
yo soy	I am
tú eres	you (informal, singular) are
usted es	you (formal, singular) are
él / ella es	he / she is
nosotros / nosotras somos	we are
vosotros / vosotras sois	you (informal, plural) are
ustedes son	you (formal, plural) are
ellos / ellas son	they are

Uses of ser
1. Identification	¿Quién es ella? / Who is she? - Ella es mi hermana. / She is my sister. ¿Qué es esto? / What is this? - Es un diccionario. / It is a dictionary.
2. Origin and nationality	Yo soy de Panamá. / I am from Panamá. Yo soy panameña. / I am Panamanian.
3. Personality and physical characteristics	Yo soy simpático / antipático. / I am nice / mean. Ella es inteligente / no es inteligente. / She is intelligent / is not intelligent. Nosotros somos activos / no somos activos. / We are active / are not active. Ellas son atléticas / no son atléticas. / They are athletic / are not athletic.
4. Professions	Nosotros somos estudiantes. / We are students. Ellos son profesores. / They are professors.
5. Possessions (with de)	¿De quién es el libro? / Whose book is this? El libro es de María. / It is María’s book. (Literally, it is the book of María.)
6. Time/hour	Es la 1:00 de la tarde. / It is 1:00 p.m. Son las 2:00 de la tarde. / It is 2:00 p.m.
7. Where and when an event takes place	¿Dónde es la fiesta? / Where is the party? - La fiesta es en el restaurante La Salsa. / The party is at La Salsa restaurant. ¿Cuándo es la fiesta? / When is the party? - Es en diciembre. / It is in December.

Photo of a high school classroom, students in blue uniforms with hands raised, teacher at front calling on student — "Somos de Barrio. Los Estudiantes. Arenoso. Rafael Arias" by Gobierno Danilo Medina is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Listening

Use the following link to hear the forms of ser pronounced in Spanish:

Introductory Spanish I - El verbo ser

Actividades de comunicación

Actividad 1. Identifications.

Work in pairs taking turns. Ask what each object is and let your partner answer the question. (All images in this activity are sourced from openclipart.org, licence CC-PD.)

Modelo:
- Estudiante 1: ¿Qué es el dibujo (drawing) número siete?
- Estudiante 2: Es un lápiz.

Actividad 2. Nationalities.

Work in pairs taking turns. Using the map below as a guide, ask where each person is from and let your partner answer the question.

Modelo:
- Estudiante 1: ¿De dónde son Fernando y María?
- Estudiante 2: Fernando y María son de Argentina.

Map of countries of South America with names superimposed: Tomás in Venezuela, Ana e Isabel in Colombia, Nosotros in Perú, Tú in Paraguay, Adela in Chile, Fernando y María in Argentina — The original image by Haylli is licensed under CC BY.

Actividad 3. Professions.

Work in groups of four or more. One member will perform a profession and the rest will guess what it is.

Modelo:
- Estudiante 1: Acts out a profession
- Otros estudiantes: Tú eres profesor.
- Estudiante 1: No, no soy profesor. OR ¡Sí, soy profesor!

Possible professions:

Spanish	English
actor	actor
actriz	actress
escritor(a)	writer
artista	artist
bombero(a)	firefighter
fontanero(a)	plumber
taxista	taxi driver
cantante	singer
albañil	construction worker
médico(a)	doctor