10 Ser Conjugation Charts For Every Tense in Spanish

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One of the hardest parts of learning a romance language—especially one like Spanish—is verb conjugation.

In Spanish, the way a verb is conjugated depends on a number of factors, including the subject, the verb tense, and the purpose of the sentence itself. That means that there are actually many versions of each verb, all of which mean something slightly different. And because so much of understanding Spanish revolves around verbs, it’s an important (though pretty confusing) part of learning Spanish as a second language.

If you’re taking the AP Spanish exam, ser is one of the most critical verbs that you need to know—and know how to conjugate. Unfortunately, the conjugations for ser can be pretty tricky. But we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll give you every possible verb conjugation for the Spanish verb ser, which means “to be.” We’ll even give you a quick rundown on what ser means and when to use it!

So… ¡si estan listos, vamos!

 

body-dora-the-explorer-loren-javier

It's time to do like Dora and "Come on, vamanos!"
Loren Javier/Flickr

 

Every Single Ser Conjugation Chart

We’ve broken down every conjugation of ser by verb tense and form! Scroll down until you see the heading for the verb tense you need, then check out the corresponding chart below.

 

Present Indicative

Yo

soy

Nosotros

somos

eres

Vosotros

sois

Usted/El/Ella

es

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

son

 

 

Imperfect Indicative

Yo

era

Nosotros

éramos

eras

Vosotros

erais

Usted/El/Ella

era

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

eran

 

 

Preterite Indicative

Yo

fui

Nosotros

fuimos

fuiste

Vosotros

fuisteis

Usted/El/Ella

fue

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

fueron

 

 

Future Indicative

Yo

seré

Nosotros

seremos

serás

Vosotros

seréis

Usted/El/Ella

será

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

serán

 

 

Conditional

Yo

sería

Nosotros

seríamos

serías

Vosotros

seríais

Usted/El/Ella

sería

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

serían

 

 

Present Subjunctive

Yo

sea

Nosotros

seamos

seas

Vosotros

seáis

Usted/El/Ella

sea

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

sean

 

 

Imperative or Command

Yo

—-

Nosotros

seamos

Vosotros

sed

Usted/El/Ella

sea

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

sean

 

 

Imperfect Subjunctive

Note that there are two conjugations for the imperfect subjunctive. In Spanish, these conjugation forms can be used interchangeably!

Yo

fuera

Nosotros

fuéramos

fueras

Vosotros

fuerais

Usted/El/Ella

fuera

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

fueran



Yo

fuese

Nosotros

fuésemos

fueses

Vosotros

fueseis

Usted/El/Ella

fuese

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

fuesen

 

 

All Perfect Tenses

A quick note: there are multiple perfect tenses, including the pluperfect, preterite perfect, future perfect, conditional perfect, and present perfect subjunctive, and pluperfect subjunctive. When using these forms, the construction is always as follows: 

Conjugation of haber + sido

You’ll conjugate haber in whatever form accompanies the perfect tense. For example, if you’re using the future perfect, you’ll conjugate haber in future tense!

Yo

sido

Nosotros

sido

sido

Vosotros

sido

Usted/El/Ella

sido

Ustedes/Ellos/Ellas

sido

 

body-two-bees-flowerDad joke of the day: "Ser" means "to be," not "two bees"

 

Meaning and Usage of Ser

As we mentioned earlier, ser means “to be” in Spanish. But if you’re studying Spanish, you know that there’s a second verb that means “to be” as well: estar. (We’ll talk about estar in another article, so you don’t need to worry about it now.)

Additionally, ser is an irregular verb. That means it doesn’t follow the normal patterns of conjugations that a regular verb—ike hablar (to speak) or vivir (to live)—do. Unfortunately, there’s no easy tip, trick, or formula to help you nail the ser conjugation each and every time. The only way to make sure you know the ser conjugations is to memorize them.

So how do you know when to use ser?

In general, ser is used to talk about what something is. You can think of ser as a way to talk about a thing’s permanent state or a set of characteristics that don’t change. To show you how this works, here are examples of situations that require you to use ser:

 

Time and Date

If you’re talking about a specific time (on a clock) or calendar date, you should use ser. 

Example: Hoy es Martes.
Today is Tuesday.
Example: Son las dos. 

It’s two o’clock.

 

Place of Origin and Nationality

Whenever you’re talking about someone’s home country, state, or where they were born, use a ser conjugation. 

Example: Claudio es puertorriqueño. 

Claudio is Puerto Rican. 

Example: El es de Alemania. 
He is from Germany.

 

body-lady-doctor 

Occupation or Profession

Use the appropriate version of ser when speaking about a person’s job, profession, or occupation. 

Example: Mi abuela era doctora en Chile.

My grandmother was a doctor in Chile. 

Example: Adela es arquitecta.
Adela is an architect. 

 

Religious or Political Affiliation

Use ser when you’re talking about someone’s religion or the political party they belong to. 

Example: El presidente de los estados unidos es republicano.  

The president of the United States is Republican.  

Example: Martin es un cristiano, entonces él quiere ir a una colegio cristiano.
Martin is a Christian, so he wants to go to a Christian college.

 

body-admission-tickets

 

What Something Is Made Of

When describing what something is made of, use ser. If you’re discussing how something is made, you’ll need to use a verb like hacer (to make) instead. 

Example: La bicicleta es de metal. 

The bicycle is made of metal. 

Example: Los boletos son de papel.
The tickets are made of paper.

 

Possession

When you’re talking about what something belongs to, use ser. This is how you indicate ownership! 

Example: Mitzi es la perra de Miguel. 

Mitzi is Miguel’s dog. 

Example: Esos libros fueron del señor Villareal.
Those books belonged to Mr. Villareal. 

 

Permanent Relationships of One Person to Another

Use ser to indicate how people are related to one another. 

Example: Ella es la amiga de Laura. 

She is Laura’s friend 

Example: Señora Mariz es la mamá de Juan.
Mrs. Mariz is Juan’s mother. 

 
body-live-concert

 

Where an Event Is Taking Place

Use a ser conjugation to talk about the time and location of a specific event. 

Example: La conferencia es a las siete en la noche. 

The conference is at seven p.m. 

Example: La pasada copa del mundo fue en Rusia.
The last World Cup was in Russia. 

 

Essential Characteristics of People and Things

When deciding between ser and estar to talk about characteristics, use ser when you’re talking about permanent, unchanging, and/or essential traits of a person or item. 

Example: Colombia es un país grande. 

Colombia is a big country.

Example: José y Clara son amables.
José and Clara are friendly. 

 

Generalizations

If you’re talking in large generalities, use a ser conjugation. 

Example: La prueba fue muy difícil. 

The test was very difficult. 

Example: ¡Es fabuloso viajar!
It’s fabulous to travel! 

 

body-person-red-journal

 

What's Next?

If you’re preparing for the AP Spanish exam, that’s great! You might also look into other classes that offer AP exams in order to maximize your college credit and weighted GPA.

Wondering what a good AP score is for the AP Spanish exam? Here’s a list of the average AP scores for every AP test!

One of the tricky bits about AP tests is that it’s hard to know when to start studying for them. You’re taking the AP class, after all! Here’s a handy guide to help you figure out the best time to start studying for the AP Spanish test on your own. (Spoiler alert: you do have to study for AP tests outside of the classroom, too!)

 



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About the Author
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Ashley Robinson

Ashley Sufflé Robinson has a Ph.D. in 19th Century English Literature. As a content writer for PrepScholar, Ashley is passionate about giving college-bound students the in-depth information they need to get into the school of their dreams.



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