Ser, meaning to be, is certainly one of the most complex verbs in the Spanish Language in respect of how it is conjugated, but can be equally confusing to beginners of the Spanish language as it shares the limelight with another irregular verb, estar, that also means to be.

Both verbs are extremely irregular and it can be difficult to explain one without making reference to the other but for the sake of avoiding confusion I will make as few references or comparisons as possible and concentrate as much as possible on ser!

Ser is used for the following:

• If you wish to explain identity: I am Danny - Soy Danny

• When referring to possession: The car is John's - El coche es de Juan

• To indicate origin: My friends are from Madrid - Mis amigos son de Madrid

• When nationality is expressed: She is English - Es inglesa

• To describe occupation: I am a teacher - Soy profesor

• To describe the material from which something is made: The watch is made of gold - El reloj es de oro

• Inherent characteristics: Teresa is very short - Teresa es muy corta

• When telling the time: It is seven o'clock - Son las siete; Today is Sunday - Hoy es domingo

• For impersonal expressions: It is good to eat - Es bueno comer

• And finally; it is used with the past participle of a verb to indicate the passive voice: Don Quixote was written by Miguel de Cervantes - Don Quijote fue escrito por Miguel de Cervantes

Caution must be exercised when using ser with the passive voice, as estar too, can be used with past participles to express the passive voice. The difference between the two is that ser is used to indicate action whereas estar is used to indicate state as indicated in this example:

Don Quixote is published in several languages - Don Quijote esta publicado en varios idiomas.

Now we have covered when we should be using ser we will now look at the conjugation and irregularities of ser.

Although ser is most irregular when used in the subjunctive; but as the subjunctive is used infrequently in Spanish, as in English, we will concentrate on the three indicative tenses where ser is highly irregular and that are used daily. These tenses are the present, imperfect and preterit tenses.

The Present Tense

Depending upon the Spanish course you are using you will either learn about the regular verb endings for -ar, -er and -ir verbs initially or you will learn the present tense of ser.

Ser - Present Tense

Singular: yo soy - I am; tu eres - you are (familiar); el /ella es - he/ she/ it is; usted es - you are (polite).

Plural: nosotros somos - we are; vosotros sois - you are (familiar); ellos /ellas son - they are; ustedes son - you are (polite)

The Imperfect and Preterit Tense

These two tenses are more commonly known as past tenses and the preterit is the more commonly used of the two. As with the present tense of ser, all forms are irregular in both tenses.

Ser - Imperfect Tense

Singular: yo era - I was being; tu eras - you were being; el /ella era - he/ she/ it was being; usted era - you were being

Plural: nosotros eramos - we were being; vosotros erais - you were being; ellos /ellas eran - they were being; ustedes eran - you were being

Ser - Preterit Tense

Singular: yo fui - I was; tu fuiste - you were (familiar); el /ella fue - he/ she/ it was; usted fue - you were (polite) Plural: nosotros fuimos - we were; vosotros fuisteis - you were (familiar); ellos /ellas fueron - they were; ustedes fueron - you were (polite)

The Imperative Tense

There is one more tense, or to be perfectly correct, mood, that we haven't mentioned that ser is largely irregular in, and that is the imperative which is comprised of only one tense, the present tense. The imperative mood is used when we are issuing orders or commands directly, for example if you were ordering your dog to sit you would say...Sit! This is the imperative mood and it is used in exactly the same way in Spanish.

Here is the verb ser in the imperative, although it is extremely unlikely that you will use it often as you would very rarely command someone to Be! Obviously there is no imperative for 'I' as you would not order or command oneself!

Ser - Imperative mood

Singular: (tu) se!; (el /ella) sea!; (usted) sea!

Plural: (nosotros) seamos!; (vosotros) sed!; (ellos /ellas) sean!; (ustedes) sean!

Note: Where you see a single vowel a, e, i, o or u highlighted as such it means that those letters require an accent. Also in the imperative mood, all commands must be preceded by an inverted exclamation mark as is the case in Spanish.