culturealley.com/spanish : Learn Spanish for free using self-paced audio-visual lessons and interactive practice exercises - CultureAlley - master conversations, grammar, vocabulary and more!This lesson covers the basic building block for conversations in Spanish - the to-be verb 'ser' and its forms (like soy, es, eres, sois, somos) in Spanish. You will learn how to say 'I am', 'You are', He/She is', 'They are', 'We are' etc. to form sentences like 'I am American', 'She is Spanish', 'I am Mark' and so on. To study this at your own pace, take quizzes and explore more lessons go to www.culturealley.com. See you at the Alley!

1. I am
Yo soy
Lesson 4 | The to-be verb ‘Ser’

3. ¡Hola!
Lesson 4 on Basic Spanish!

4. Singular
(I)
Plural
(We)
I/ We Yo Nosotros/as
Revision

5. You
Singular Plural
Informal Tú Vosotros/as
Formal Usted Ustedes
Revision

6. Singular Plural
He/ They
(male/mixed)
Él Ellos
She/ They
(female)
Ella Ellas
Revision

7. 1 To-be verb and its usage
Lesson objectives

8. Before we move on to topics like conversations and
introductions, it is essential to cover the most basic
aspect of Spanish : the to-be verb
Just like in English, where almost every sentence has
a form of the 'to-be' verb like 'is/ am/ are' - Spanish
also has several forms of the 'to-be' verb
'To-be' verb

9. 'To-be’ verb can be translated to ser and estar in Spanish
Here are the forms of ‘to-be’ verb in English:
to be
I am
you are
he/she is
we are
you-all are
they are
'To-be' verb

10. 'To-be’ verb can be translated
to ser and estar in Spanish
'To-be' verb

11. Ser is used for permanent situations
(eg: what something is) while Estar for
temporary situations
(eg: what something does temporarily)
Ser : Soy de America = I am from America
(permanent)
Estar : Estoy en la oficina = I am at the office
(temporary)
Spanish uses derived forms of verbs like in this case
Ser-> Soy and Estar-> Estoy
Ser vs. Estar

12. ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’ are
both translations of the ‘to-be’ verb
However, they differ in their usage
This lesson will focus on ‘Ser’ and we will
take up ‘Estar’ in a later lesson
Ser vs. Estar

13. Ser = ‘to-be’ verb (I am, he is, you are);
is used to describe:
• Physical characteristics
• Personality traits
• A country/city/place of origin
• Time
• Ownership
• Professions
Ser

14. Just like the 'to-be' verb in English, Ser
also has several forms depending
on the subject
So, let's look at Ser and its
forms in Spanish
Ser

15. Forms of Ser
Pronoun
Corresponding
form of Ser
Yo (I) soy
Nosotros / Nosotras
(We, male / female group)
somos

16. Forms of Ser
Pronoun
Corresponding
form of Ser
Tú
(You informal)
eres
Vosotros
(You, plural informal)
sois
Usted
(You formal)
es
Ustedes
(You, plural formal)
son

17. Forms of Ser
Pronoun
Corresponding
form of Ser
Él / Ella
(He/ She) es
Ellos / Ellas
(They, male / female group)
son

18. I am Yo soy We are
Nosotros
somos
You are
(informal)
Tú eres
You are
(plural)
Vosotros sois
You are
(formal)
Usted es
You are
(plural,
formal)
Ustedes son
He / She is Él / Ella es They are
Ellos / Ellas
son
Alright...let's revise!

19. As you may have noticed, just like in
English, the form of 'to-be' verb or Ser
does not depend on the
gender of the subject
Eg: Él es and Ella es
Grammar Tip

20. The verbs for Usted/Ustedes work the same as
for Él/Ellos
For singular : we use 'es'
For plural : we use 'son'
Grammar Tip

21. Ser - examples
English Spanish
I (female) am Mexican Yo soy mexicana
You (inf.) are Argentinean Tú eres argentino
He is Colombian Él es colombiano
She is Costa Rican Ella es costarricense
We are Peruvians Nosotros somos peruanos
You (inf, pl.) are Spanish Vosotros sois españoles
You are Venezuelans Ustedes son venezolanos

22. Do you remember that names of
nationalities are not capitalized
in Spanish?
In Spanish, although names of countries
and cities are capitalized, words derived
from them (eg: nationalities) are not!
Do you remember?

23. 1 2 3es soissoy
I am = Yo __
Exercise : Pick the right Ser form

24. 1 2 3
Solution
I am = Yo __
es soissoy

25. 1 2 3somos soissoy
Carlos and you are = Carlos y tú __
Exercise : Pick the right Ser form

26. 1 2 3
Carlos and you are = Carlos y tú sois
Solution
somos soissoy

27. 1 2 3eres sones
You (inf, sing.) are = Tú ___
Exercise : Pick the right Ser form

28. 1 2 3
You (inf, sing.) are = Tú eres
Solution
es eres son

29. 1 2 3somos sones
Carlos and I are (We are) = Carlos y Yo __
Exercise : Pick the right Ser form

30. 1 2 3
Carlos and I are (We are) = Carlos y Yo somos
Solution
es somos son

31. 1 2 3
Carlos and José are = Carlos y José __
Exercise : Pick the right Ser form
somos sonsois

32. 1 2 3
Carlos and José are = Carlos y José son
Solution
sois somos son

33. I am American
American = americano
Try yourself

34. I am American Yo soy americano
Solution

35. The verb forms often make
some pronouns (like Yo) unnecessary
Hence, Yo soy americano can also be
translated as Soy americano
Grammar Tip : Omitting pronouns

36. Revision
I am Yo soy We are
Nosotros
somos
You are
(informal)
Tú eres
You are
(plural)
Vosotros sois
You are
(formal)
Usted es
You are
(plural,
formal)
Ustedes son
He / She is Él / Ella es They are
Ellos / Ellas
son

37. Culture leaf
An important Spanish holiday is
'Semana Santa' (Holy Week)
It is celebrated a week before Easter

38. Culture leaf
People honour local patron saints
People decorate the streets, build
bonfires, set off fireworks and
hold large parades, bullfights, and
beauty contests

39. In the next lesson we move
on to conversations with a focus
on introductions!
What’s next?

40. Content
Team CultureAlley, Okairy Zuñiga,
Tomasa Merino Martín
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semana_Santa
Voice over
Jorge Garcia Rey
Pictures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Folio_173v_-
_The_Entry_into_Jerusalem.jpg
Credits

41. See you at the Alley!

42. Lesson 5 | Introducing yourself