The conjugation of the Spanish verb ser is irregular. It is irregular because it does not follow a set pattern of conjugation to form all its tenses. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to conjugate the Spanish verb ser in all Spanish tenses! We will also show you how to conjugate it in common Spanish verb phrases. Sound good? Let’s go!
How to Conjugate Ser in Spanish
We’ll start off by showing you the Spanish verbals of ser. Then, we’ll show you how to conjugate ser in the indicative, subjunctive and imperative mood.
Spanish Verbals of Ser
Verbals are not what they seem to be. They seem to be verbs, but they are not. Verbals derive from verbs, and they function as nouns or modifiers. These are the verbals that derive from the verb ser.
Infinitive: ser
Gerund: siendo
Participle: sido
Indicative Mood
You will find 10 different verb tenses in the Spanish indicative mood. All of them are regularly used in conversations; however, the tenses “pretérito anterior” and “futuro compuesto” are not used as frequently as the rest of the tenses.
Tiempos Simples – Simple Tenses
Presente – Present Tense
- yo soy – I am
- tú eres – you are
- vos sos – you (South American) are
- él/ella/usted es – he/she/you (formal) are
- nosotros/as somos – we are
- vosotros/as sois – you (plural) are
- ustedes son – you (plural) are
- ellos/as son – they are
Pretérito Imperfecto – Imperfect Tense
- yo era – I was
- tú eras – you were
- vos eras – you (South American) were
- él/ella/usted era – he/she/you (formal) were
- nosotros/as éramos – we were
- vosotros/as erais – you (plural) were
- ustedes eran – you (plural) were
- ellos/as eran – they were
Pretérito Perfecto – Preterite Tense
- yo fui – I was
- tú fuiste – you were
- vos fuiste – you (South American) were
- él/ella/usted fue – he/she/you (formal) were
- nosotros/as fuimos – we were
- vosotros/as fuisteis – you (plural) were
- ustedes fueron – you (plural) were
- ellos/as fueron – they were
Futuro – Future Tense
- yo seré – I will be
- tú serás – you will be
- vos serás – you (South American) will be
- él/ella/usted será – he/she/you (formal) will be
- nosotros/as seremos – we will be
- vosotros/as seréis – you (plural) will be
- ustedes serán – you (plural) will be
- ellos/as serán – they will be
Condicional – Conditional Tense
- yo sería – I would be
- tú serías – you would be
- vos serías – you (South American) would be
- él/ella/usted sería – he/she/you (formal) would be
- nosotros/as seríamos – we would be
- vosotros/as seríais – you (plural) would be
- ustedes serían – you (plural) would be
- ellos/as serían – they would be
Tiempos Compuestos – Compound Tenses
Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto – Preterit (Present) Perfect Tense
- yo he sido – I have been
- tú has sido – you have been
- vos has sido – you (South American) have been
- él/ella/usted ha sido – he/she/you (formal) have been
- nosotros/as hemos sido – we have been
- vosotros/as habéis sido – you (plural) have been
- ustedes han sido – you (plural) have been
- ellos/as han sido – they have been
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto – Pluperfect Tense
- yo había sido – I had been
- tú habías sido – you had been
- vos habías sido – you (South American) had been
- él/ella/usted había sido – he/she/you (formal) had been
- nosotros/as habíamos sido – we had been
- vosotros/as habíais sido – you (plural) had been
- ustedes habían sido – you (plural) had been
- ellos/as habían sido – they had been
Pretérito Anterior – Preterit Perfect Tense
- yo hube sido – I had been
- tú hubiste sido – you had been
- vos hubiste sido – you (South American) had been
- él/ella/usted hubo sido – he/she/you (formal) had been
- nosotros/as hubimos sido – we had been
- vosotros/as hubisteis sido – you (plural) had been
- ustedes hubieron sido – you (plural) had been
- ellos/as hubieron sido – they had been
Futuro Compuesto – Future Perfect Tense
- yo habré sido – I will have been
- tú habrás sido – you will have been
- vos habrás sido – you (South American) will have been
- él/ella/usted habrá sido – he/she/you (formal) will have been
- nosotros/as habremos sido – we will have been
- vosotros/as habréis sido – you (plural) will have been
- ustedes habrán sido – you (plural) will have been
- ellos/as habrán sido – they will have been
Condicional Compuesto – Conditional Perfect Tense
- yo habría sido – I would have been
- tú habrías sido – you would have been
- vos habrías sido – you (South American) would have been
- él/ella/usted habría sido – he/she/you (formal) would have been
- nosotros/as habríamos sido – we would have been
- vosotros/as habríais sido – you (plural) would have been
- ustedes habrían sido – you (plural) would have been
- ellos/as habrían sido – they would have been
Subjunctive Mood
The Spanish subjunctive mood is used to give opinions, talk about hypothetical situations or indicate politeness. The most used tenses within this mood are “presente”, “pretérito imperfecto” and “pretérito perfecto”.
Tiempos Simples – Simple Tenses
Presente – Present Tense
- yo sea – I be
- tú seas – you be
- vos seás – you (South American) be
- él/ella/usted sea – he/she/you (formal) be
- nosotros/as seamos – we be
- vosotros/as seáis – you (plural) be
- ustedes sean – you (plural) be
- ellos/as sean– they be
Pretérito Imperfecto – Imperfect Tense
- yo fuera (or fuese) – I were
- tú fueras (or fueses) – you were
- vos fueras (or fueses) – you (South American) were
- él/ella/usted fuera (or fuese) – he/she/you (formal) were
- nosotros/as fuéramos (or fuésemos) – we were
- vosotros/as fuerais (or fueseis) – you (plural) were
- ustedes fueran (or fuesen) – you (plural) were
- ellos/as fueran (or fuesen) – they were
Futuro – Future Tense
- yo fuere (no direct English translation)
- tú fueres
- vos fueres
- él/ella/usted fuere
- nosotros/as fuéremos
- vosotros/as fuereis
- ustedes fueren
- ellos/as fueren
Tiempos Compuestos – Compound Tenses
Pretérito Perfecto Compuesto – Preterit (Present) Perfect Tense
- yo haya sido – I have been
- tú hayas sido – you have been
- vos hayas sido – you (South American) have been
- él/ella/usted haya sido – he/she/you (formal) have been
- nosotros/as hayamos sido – we have been
- vosotros/as hayáis sido – you (plural) have been
- ustedes hayan sido – you (plural) have been
- ellos/as hayan sido – they have been
Pretérito Pluscuamperfecto – Pluperfect Tense
- yo hubiera (or hubiese) sido – I had been
- tú hubieras (or hubieses) sido – you had been
- vos hubieras (or hubieses) sido – you (South American) had been
- él/ella/usted hubiera (or hubiese) sido – he/she/you (formal) had been
- nosotros/as hubiéramos (or hubiésemos) sido – we had been
- vosotros/as hubierais (or hubieseis) sido – you (plural) had been
- ustedes hubieran (or hubiesen) sido – you (plural) had been
- ellos/as hubieran (or hubiesen) sido – they had been
Futuro Compuesto – Future Perfect Tense
- yo hubiere sido (no direct English translation)
- tú hubieres sido
- vos hubieres sido
- él/ella/usted hubiere sido
- nosotros/as hubiéremos sido
- vosotros/as hubiereis sido
- ustedes hubieren sido
- ellos/as hubieren sido
Imperative Mood
The forms of the verb ser found in the Spanish imperative mood are commonly used by native Spanish speakers. Use the following forms of ser to give orders. Oh, and notice that to give negative orders, the forms of ser completely change.
Positive Imperative Statements with Ser
- tú sé – you be
- vos sé – you (South American) be
- usted sea – you (formal) be
- ustedes sean – you (plural) be
- vosotros sed – you (plural) be
- vosotras sed – you (feminine) be
Negative Imperative Statements with Ser
- tú no seas – you do not be
- vos no seas – you (South American) do not be
- usted no sea – you (formal) do not be
- ustedes no sean – you (plural) do not be
- vosotros no seáis – you (plural) do not be
- vosotras no seáis – you (feminine) do not be
Some common Spanish expressions that contain the verb ser in the imperative mood are the following.
- ¡Sé valiente! (Be brave!)
- ¡Sean fuertes! (Be strong!)
- ¡Sed positivos! (Be positive!)
- ¡No seas cobarde! (Don’t be a coward!)
Conjugation of Ser in Progressive Sentences
Spanish progressive sentences are the ones that express a continuous action. To form this type of sentences in Spanish you need the auxiliary verb estar and a present participle.
Estar + Present Participle of Ser
To form this particular verb phrase with the verb ser, you need the verb estar and the present participle of ser . Do you know it? It’s siendo.
- Yo estoy siendo sarcástico. (I am being sarcastic.)
- Él está siendo infiel. (He is being unfaithful.)
- Ellos están siendo dramáticos. (They are being dramatic.)
Estoy, está, and están are present conjugations of estar. You can use past forms of estar to make these sentences past.
- Yo estaba siendo sarcástico. (I was being sarcastic.)
- Él estaba siendo infiel. (He was being unfaithful.)
- Ellos estaban siendo dramáticos. (They were being dramatic.)
You have learned a lot about the conjugation of ser so far, but there is one more thing you need to know about this challenging verb. Let’s find out!
Conjugation of Ser in Passive Sentences
In Spanish, the verb ser is used in passive sentences. Many people use the passive voice when they want to give emphasis to the person or thing that receives the action. Let’s see!
Simple Present
El huracán destruye la ciudad. (The hurricane destroys the city.)
La ciudad es destruida por el huracán. (The city is destroyed by the hurricane.)
Simple Past
- El huracán destruyó la ciudad. (The hurricane destroyed the city.)
- La ciudad fue destruida por el huracán. (The city was destroyed by the hurricane.)
Simple Future
- El huracán destruirá la ciudad. (The hurricane will destroy the city.)
- La ciudad será destruida por el huracán. (The city will be destroyed by the hurricane.)
Click here to read our comprehensive guide to all Spanish tenses!
Practice the Conjugation of Ser
It seems mission impossible to learn the complete conjugation of ser, but constant practice can help you memorize all of the forms of this Spanish verb. Clozemaster was designed to help people remember new vocabulary in a fun way! Check it out.
Common Questions About Ser
1. What is the meaning of ser?![]()
The English verb to be has two equivalents in Spanish. One of them is ser. Yo soy means I am. Ser, however, is used to express different concepts, and sometimes it can even mean take place.
2. Is ser used for location?
You should never use ser to say were you are located. You should always use estar. However, if you want to express the place in which an event will take place, you should use ser.
3. Is ser used to talk about permanent things?
In general, ser is used to talk about permanent traits. On the other hand, estar is used to talk about temporary conditions.
Learn More About Ser
Now you know how to conjugate the verb ser in Spanish! Don’t forget to check out the uses of ser if you don’t know them yet.
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