100+ Sentences with the Spanish Verb Ser

I’m sure you’re having tons of fun learning Spanish…. but conjugating verbs might make you want to rip your hair out! Most notable for beginners is the fact that two verbs exist in Spanish to express what one verb (“to be”) does in English: ser and estar. How do you know which one to use? Arguably, irregular verbs are one of the most difficult aspects of learning Spanish, but the good news is—once you “get it”, you’ll feel like a total pro! If you haven’t already, read our detailed blog post about the differences between ser and estar to get a solid understanding of the differences. In this blog post, we will focus mostly on the Spanish verb ser, its usage and conjugation, with example sentences. Lastly, we’ll explore the Spanish verb estar to see how it differs from ser. ¡Empecemos!

What does the Spanish verb ser mean?

It is important to know that ser means “to be” or “being” in English, and it is used mostly in situations to imply 6 specific ideas:

1. Permanence: when something remains in the same state, place, condition or situation. 

Example: Mi chaqueta es roja (My coat is red).

2. Characteristics: descriptions of a person or thing. 

Example: El hielo es frío (Ice is cold).

3. Possession: when you want to express that something is yours. 

Example: El reloj es mío (The watch is mine).

4. Origin: the place a person or thing is from, or the material something is made of.  

Example: Ella es Brasileña (She is brazilian).

5. Nature: when you are talking about the basic or innate features of something. 

Example: La muerte es parte del ciclo de la vida (Death is part of the circle of life).

6. Identity: who or what a person or thing is. 

Example: Yo soy guatemalteco (I am Guatemalan). 

 How do you conjugate it?

As you may know, the Spanish verb ser is an irregular verb, which means you’ll have to memorize how it’s used with every pronoun. Here’s a chart with three verb tenses for you to print or write down in a notebook:

How do you use these verbs in real life?

While learning grammar points is useful, it’s essential to see how the verbs are used in sentences that people say every day in Spanish. Remember that pronouns are optional in Spanish, which is why you will see them all in parentheses. Check out these examples that you may want to use in conversation!

Yo

• (Yo) soy estudiante de Psicología (I am a Psychology student).
• (Yo) soy hermano de Andrea (I am Andrea’s brother).
• (Yo) soy alérgico a la leche (I am allergic to milk).
• (Yo) soy vegetariana (I am vegetarian).
• (Yo) no soy alta (I am not tall). 
• (Yo) fui ayer a comer pizza (I went to eat pizza yesterday).
• (Yo) fui al juego de basketball el viernes pasado (I went to the basketball game last Friday).
• (Yo) fui con mis amigos a la fiesta (I went to the party with my friends).
• (Yo) fui a celebrar mi cumpleaños con mi familia (I went with my family to celebrate my birthday).
• (Yo) no fui al concierto (I didn’t go to the concert). 
• (Yo) seré doctor algún día (I will be a doctor someday).
• (Yo) seré la mejor novelista del mundo (I will be the best novelist in the world).
• (Yo) seré fiel a mis creencias (I will be true to my beliefs).
• (Yo) seré un gran empresario cuando crezca (I will be a great entrepreneur when I grow up).
• (Yo) no sé si seré capaz de correr 21 kilómetros (I don’t know if I’ll be capable of running 21 kilometers). 
• Yo seré su padrino de bodas (I’ll be his best man).

Tú

• (Tú) eres muy hábil (You’re very skillful).
• (Tú) eres un gran amigo (You are a great friend).
• (Tú) eres demasiado divertido (You are so funny).
• ¿(Tú) eres la dueña  de este terreno? (Are you the owner of this plot of land?)
• (Tú) eres muy celosa (You are very jealous).
• ¿(Tú) fuiste anoche a la reunión? (Did you go to the meeting last night?)
• (Tú) fuiste el único con la valentía para decir la verdad (You were the only one with the courage to say the truth).
• (Tú) fuiste un gran ejemplo para mí en mi infancia (You were a huge role model for me during my childhood).
• (Tú) fuiste seleccionado para leer el discurso de graduación (You were selected to give the graduation speech).
• ¿Acaso fuiste tú? (Was it you?)
• De ahora en adelante, (tú) serás mi mejor amigo  (From now on, you will be my best friend).
• (Tú) serás una inspiración para muchas personas (You will be an inspiration for so many people).
• (Tú) serás muy feliz en ese trabajo (You will be very happy in this job).
• Creo que (tú) serás un excelente abogado (I think you will be an excellent lawyer).  
• Tú serás un ejemplo para muchos (You will be an example for a lot of people). 

Él, ella, usted

• Él es bueno para las matemáticas (He is good at math).
• Ella es muy inteligente (She is very smart).
• Usted es un atleta muy determinado (You are a very determined athlete).
• Ella es una amiga muy especial para mí (She is a very special friend to me).
• Usted es muy gracioso (You are very funny). 
• Él fue nadador olímpico (He was an olympic swimmer).
• Ella fue al salón antes de su cita (She went to the hair salon before her date).
• Usted fue muy importante para él (You were very important to him).
• ¿Acaso usted fue el que se accidentó? (Was it you who crashed?)
• Ella fue la jefa de él (She was his boss). 
• Él será un padre muy cariñoso (He will be a very affectionate father).
• Ella siempre será bienvenida en esta casa (She will always be welcome in this house).
• Después de que regrese de viaje, usted no será el mismo (After you come back from your trip, you won’t be the same).
• Él será el primero en saber los resultados del examen (He will be the first one to know the test results).
• Ella siempre será única (She will always be unique). 

Ellos, ellas, ustedes

• Ellos son muy buenos amigos (They are good friends).
• Ellas son las que siempre vemos en la iglesia (They are the ones we always see in church).
• ¿Ustedes son primos? (Are you cousins?)
• Ellas son muy listas (They are really smart).
• Ustedes son muy traviesos (You all are very mischievous). 
• Ellos fueron a correr en la mañana (They went for a run this morning).
• No sabemos si ellas fueron al colegio hoy (We don’t know if they went to school today).
• ¿Ustedes fueron a la clase de música ayer? (Did you go to music class yesterday?)
• ¿Acaso ellos fueron los que causaron la pelea? (Were they the ones who caused the fight?)
• Ustedes fueron los más destacados de la competencia (You were the most prominent of the competition). 
• Ellos serán expulsados del colegio si siguen comportándose mal (They’ll be expelled from school if continue to behave badly).
• Ellas serán las damas de honor de Karina (They will be Karina’s bridesmaids).
• Estoy segura de que ustedes serán los ganadores de la competencia (I’m sure you’ll be the winners of the competition).
• ¿Ustedes serán los organizadores del evento? (Will you be the organizers of the event?)
• Ellos serán los caballeros en la boda de Santiago (They will be Santiago’s groomsmen in his wedding). 

Nosotros, nosotras

• (Nosotros) somos mejores amigos (We are best friends).
• (Nosotras) ya no somos las mismas desde el accidente (We are not the same since the accident).
• (Nosotros) somos bastante buenos en los deportes (We are good at sports).
• Por supuesto que (nosotras) somos libres de escoger (Of course that we are free to choose).
• (Nosotros) somos de Guatemala (We are from Guatemala).
• (Nosotros) fuimos al zoológico el viernes (We went to the zoo on Friday).
• (Nosotras) fuimos a dar un paseo (We went for a walk).
• (Nosotros) fuimos a mi casa (We went to my house).
• (Nosotras) no fuimos a trabajar al día siguiente (We didn’t go to work the next day).
• (Nosotros) fuimos a Estados Unidos el mes pasado (We went to the United States last month). 
• (Nosotros) seremos excelentes profesionales (We will be amazing professionals).
• Juntas, (nosotras) seremos más fuertes (Together, we will be stronger).
• (Nosotros) seremos otra vez una familia (We will be a family again).
• (Nosotras) seremos amigas por siempre (We will be friends forever).
• No sé si (nosotros) seremos los elegidos (I don’t know if we’ll be the chosen ones). 

Vosotros, vosotras

• Vosotros sois muy inteligentes (You guys are very smart).
• Vosotras sois unas mujeres muy sabias (You girls are very wise).
• Vosotros sois valientes por defender sus derechos (You are very brave for defending your rights).
• ¿Vosotras sois todas amigas? (Are you all friends?)
• ¿Vosotros sois gemelos? (Are you guys twins?)
• ¿Vosotros fuisteis amigos desde pequeños? (Have you been friends since you were kids?)
• Cuando eran niñas, vosotras fuisteis muy tranquilas (You used to be very calm when you were little girls).
• Sé que vosotros fuisteis quienes empezaron a bailar en la clase (I know you were the ones who started to dance in the class).
• ¿Vosotras fuisteis a cenar anoche? (Girls, did you go to dinner last night?)
• Vosotros fuisteis muy importantes en el equipo para ganar el partido (You were very important in the team for winning the game). 
• Vosotros seréis los presentadores del evento (You guys will be the event’s hosts).
• Vosotras seréis las primeras en entrar al teatro (You girls will be the first ones to get in the theatre).
• Vosotros seréis los invitados especiales (You will be the special guests).
• Vosotras seréis grandes madres (You will be amazing moms).
• Vosotros seréis atletas reconocidos de grandes (You will be famous athletes when you grow up). 

Ser vs estar

Now that we’ve seen some examples for the Spanish verb ser, it is important to differentiate it from the verb estar.

In English, both irregular verbs mean “to be,” however, they have different meanings and usage. We saw the ser conjugations on the table above, now, let’s see the conjugations for estar in three tenses:

What’s the difference?

The main difference is that the Spanish verb ser describes something regarding more permanent situations and characteristics; while estar indicates location and more temporary situations. The verb estar denotes conditions that could change over the course of a single day. Let’s take a look at the difference in usage:

Yo soy psicóloga (I am a psychologist). (My career is permanent)

 Estoy muy cansada por el trabajo (I am very exhausted because of work). (temporary feeling from working too much) 

Also, it is important to know that the verb estar applies to these 6 ideas:

1. Location: describes where something is permanently, temporarily or conceptually; like a city, region, or geographical feature. 

Example: La ciudad de Medellín está en Colombia (Medellín is in Colombia).

2. Temporary physical conditions: things that are likely to vary over several hours, days, or even years; such as sick, tired, hyper, or relaxed. 

Example: Las niñas están enfermas (The girls are sick).  

3. Temporary mental conditions and moods: conditions like depressed, anxious, nervous, angry, sad, or happy. 

Example: Él está deprimido (He is depressed).  

4. Temporary traits or qualities: characteristics a person reflects in certain moments of life, such as skinny, kind, strong, responsible, or trustworthy. 

Example: Estás muy delgada (You are very skinny).

5. A temporary situation (with preposition “de”): situations that are not permanent and are not expected to continue for a long time. 

Example: Juan es escritor, pero ahora está de maestro en una universidad prestigiosa (Juan is a writer, but now he’s a teacher in a prestigious university).

6. Gerund: in Spanish, the gerund includes the infinitive and the participle and is a non-personal form of verbs. It’s characterized by the end -ando and -iendo. 

Example: Estamos comiendo en las mesas a la par de la ventana (We are eating on the tables next to the window).

How to remember the differences

In addition to learning the ideas list above that each verb expresses, these two quick tips may help you even more to remember when to use ser and estar!

For ser remember the acronym DOCTOR, which goes by:

• Date
• Occupation
• Characteristics
• Time
• Origin
• Relation

For estar, remember the acronym ELF:

• Emotion
• Location
• Feeling

Acronyms are excellent shortcuts to use when you need to know whether to use the Spanish verb ser or estar. In summary, both verbs have different meanings and are not interchangeable in any circumstance. Remember to follow this guide so that you can use these verbs correctly!

It’s your turn!

Now you are ready to rock these Spanish verbs! Learn more tips and practice new topics with our qualified native Spanish-speaking teachers; join us at Homeschool Spanish Academy and have fun while you increase your Spanish fluency!

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Mariana Gómez

Freelance writer at Homeschool Spanish Academy

Industrial Psychology Student in Guatemala, lover of cultures, family, love and new experiences. Writing is the way I connect with the world and myself. My goal is to make of this world a better place, so I constantly get out of my comfort zone to achieve that. I strongly believe that “we ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop”.

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