1. Apuntes: SER
Lección 3: La familia

2. Yo puedo… I can… Conjugate the verb SER in the present tense
Identify the uses of SER

3. El verbo SER To be soy somos eres sois es son
Ser means ______________.
To be
soy
somos
eres
sois es
son

4. SER vs. Estar There are two ways to say “to be.”
Remember that ESTAR is used for: E L F
Everything else is SER.
motions
ocations
eelings

5. El Uso To identify people and things. Examples: ¿Quién es él? →
Él es Raúl. →
¿Qué es? →
Es un mapa de España. →
Who is he?
He is Raúl.
What is it?
It is a map of Spain.

6. El Uso
To express possession (ownership). In Spanish,’s does not exist. Instead, you must use ser with the formula [noun] + de + [owner].
Examples:
¿De quién es? →
Es el libro de Rosa. →
¿De quiénes son? →
Son los lápices de la chica. →
When de is followed by the article el, the two combine and form del. De does not combine with la, los, or las.
Es la computadora del profesor. →
Whose is it?
It is Rosa’s book. (It is the book of Rosa.)
Whose are they?
They are the girl’s pencils.
It is the teacher’s computer.

7. Where is Magdalena from?
El Uso
To show origin (where you are from/where you were born).
Examples:
¿De dónde eres? →
Soy de España. →
¿De dónde es Magdalena? →
Ella es de Argentina. →
Where are you from?
I am from Spain.
Where is Magdalena from?
She is from Argentina.

8. Miss Malysz is a teacher. Miss Malysz is an excellent teacher.
El Uso
To describe a person’s profession or occupation (job).
Examples:
Ustedes son estudiantes. →
La Srta. Malysz es profesora. →
*In Spanish, we do not use the indefinite article (un, una) after ser when talking about professions, unless accompanied by an adjective or other description.
Example:
La Srta. Malysz es una profesora excelente. →
You all are students.
Miss Malysz is a teacher.
Miss Malysz is an excellent teacher.

9. El Uso
To describe characteristics of personality and physical appearance that are normally associated with the person or thing (more “permanent” characteristics).
Examples:
Eres inteligente. →
La familia es grande. →
You are intelligent.
The family is big.

10. Today is the 2nd of December.
El Uso
To tell the time and date.
Examples:
Es la una. →
Son las diez. →
Hoy es el dos de diciembre. →
It is 1:00.
It is 10:00.
Today is the 2nd of December.