‘Ser’ Adjectives and How to Use Them in Spanish Sentences
Learning the different forms of the verb ser, Spanish for “to be,” is one of the more challenging aspects of learning the language. In English, conjugating the verb “to be” requires memorizing all of the irregular forms of the verb; the same case applies to Spanish. Unfortunately, most of these conjugations have no shortcut or easy way to learn them (with a few exceptions). On top of that, learning between ser and estar can also take some time! If you want to learn to conjugate ser, you’ll have to put in the legwork. So let’s slip into our running shoes and start learning the many ways you can conjugate ser in Spanish!
Ser Conjugation Tables
Let’s check out some conjugation tables for the different situations you’ll be using ser in.
Indicativo
The indicativo (indicative) form of the verb “to be” is used to describe and classify nouns. For example: Yo soy alto means “I’m tall,” and it describes something about myself. Let’s check the table out!
| Pronoun | Present | Past Imperfect | Simple Past | Simple Future | Conditional Simple |
| Yo | soy | era | fui | seré | sería |
| Tú | eres / sos | eras | fuiste | serás | serías |
| El/Ella | es | era | fue | será | sería |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | somos | éramos | fuimos | seremos | seríamos |
| Ustedes | son | eran | fueron | serán | serían |
| Ellos/Ellas | son | eran | fueron | serán | serían |
Subjuntivo
Subjuntivo (subjunctive) forms of the verb “to be” describe hypothetical situations. A great example of this is the song “Si yo fuera rico” (If I were rich) from the Spanish version of Fiddler on the Roof. I recommend this song if you want to practice subjunctive conjugations!
| Pronoun | Present | Past Imperfect | Simple Future |
| Yo | sea | fuera / fuese | fuere |
| Tú | seas | fueras / fueses | fueres |
| El/Ella | sea | fuera / fuese | fuere |
| Nosotros/Nosotras | seamos | fuéramos / fuésemos | fuéremos |
| Ustedes | sean | fueran / fuesen | fueren |
| Ellos/Ellas | sean | fueran / fuesen | fueren |
Imperativo
Imperativo forms of the verb “to be” are used to give commands in Spanish, great for when you need to get some teamwork done!
| Pronoun | Imperative form |
| Tú | sé / seas |
| Él / Ella | sean |
| Ustedes | sed |
| Ellos/Ellas | sean |
How do Adjectives work in Spanish?
Types of Adjectives
In Spanish there are several kinds of adjectives that interact with the verb ser in different ways. Let’s take a look at them.
Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives
Possessive
First-person singular: mi, mío, mis, míos
First-person plural: nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, nuestras
Second-person singular: tu, su, tuyo, tus, sus, tuyos, suyos
Second-person plural: su, sus
Third-person singular: su, sus
Third-person plural: su, sus
Demonstrative
Describing proximity: ese, esa, esos, esas, este, esta, estos, estas
Describing distance: aquel, aquella, aquellos, aquellas
How to Use Possessive and Demonstrative Adjectives With Ser
The possessive adjectives mío, míos, tuyo, tuyos, and suyos go after the verb ser.
- El carro azul es mío. — The blue car is mine.
Alternatively, mi, mis, tu, su, and sus go before the verb ser.
- Mi carro es azul. — My car is blue.
Nuestro, nuestra, nuestros, and nuestras can go either before or after the verb ser.
- Nuestros amigos son geniales. — Our friends are great.
- Esas sillas son nuestras. — Those chairs are ours.
Limiting Adjectives
Limiting adjectives, or adjetivos indefinidos are used to describe subjective or abstract orders of magnitude.
| Spanish Adjective | Translation |
| mucho | A lot |
| poco | A little |
| alguno | some |
| bastante | many |
| ninguno | none |
| suficiente | enough |
| varios | various |
| cuanto | As much as / as soon as |
| demasiado | Too much / too many |
| cierto | certain (number) |
| cualquier | any |
| demás | others |
| cada | every |
We’ll talk about how placement affects the meaning of some verbs later, so stay tuned! Let’s look at some examples of these adjectives with the verb ser.
La época medieval fue hace mucho tiempo. — The middle ages were a long time ago.
Mi fiesta de cumpleaños fue hace algunos meses. — My birthday party was some months ago.
Una hamburguesa es suficiente para mí. — One hamburger is enough for me.
Los chequeos médicos de Juan son cada dos semanas. — Juan’s medical check-ups are every two weeks.
Numeral Adjectives
We’ve covered this topic in a previous blog post, so for these adjectives we’ll get right to the examples. If you don’t know the difference between ordinal and cardinal numbers, or how to say them in Spanish, I highly recommend you take a couple of minutes to read through our Numbers in Spanish post first.
Mi hermana es cuatro años menor que yo. — My sister is four years younger than me.
Mañana es el décimo aniversario de mi empresa. — Tomorrow is my company’s tenth anniversary.
El nuevo edificio es diez veces más grande que el anterior. — The new building is ten times bigger than the last one.
Esta es la tercera vez que pierdo mis llaves. — This is the third time I lose my keys.
Placing Adjectives Before Nouns
Most of the time, you’ll find the adjective after the noun it’s describing. Let’s look at a previous example:
Me cantó una canción triste. – She sang me a sad song.
Here, the adjective triste goes right after the noun canción. This is the most common sentence structure you’ll find when speaking Spanish. So what’s the difference when you put the adjective before the noun?
The answer is emphasis.
By putting the adjective before the noun, you will give more heft to the description of your noun. This is often used in poetry, but it’s not recommended to speak like that or use it often because it’s not a structure found naturally in Spanish. Let’s try it out.
Me cantó una canción triste — Me cantó una triste canción.
Can you feel the difference? The second sentence has a little more heft to it. Triste is emphasized by subverting the expectation of a noun with the adjective, so the unexpected word is easily noticed by the listener.
Adjective Positioning Can Change a Word’s Meaning!
Instead of adding emphasis, some words will change meaning when they are placed before the verb. These exceptions are common in Spanish and won’t sound strange to the common speaker. Here’s a list of common examples for you to learn!
| Adjective | Meaning before noun | Meaning after noun |
| antiguo | former | old |
| cierto | certain | true |
| curioso | interesting | feeling curiosity |
| gran (grande) | great | big |
| pobre | inspiring pain or suffering | lacking money or resources |
| próximo | upcoming | next to |
| puro | simple | pure |
| solo | single (number) | lonely |
| simple | modest | lacking |
| único | only | unique |
| verdadero | real | true |
| nuevo | new (to the user) | brand new |
| diferente | distinct | not the same |
| vario | several | varied |
50+ Ser-specific Adjectives with example sentences
Ser adjectives describe permanent qualities and information. To help you remember how to use ser correctly, keep in mind that it’s always used for the following adjectives:
- nationality
- size
- color
- shape
- personality
- appearance
Let’s take a look at how to use various adjectives with the verb ser!
Nationality
Mi padre es guatemalteco, el nació en Santa Rosa. — My dad is Guatemalan, he was born in Santa Rosa.
Si yo fuera mexicana, hablaría español perfectamente. — If I were Mexican, I’d speak Spanish perfectly.
El queso más rico que probé era estadounidense — The tastiest cheese I tried was American.
Los dólares canadienses se ven diferentes — Canadian dollars look different.
Las mejores pupusas siempre han sido salvadoreñas. — The best pupusas have always been Salvadorian.
Cuando estábamos perdidos en nuestro viaje, fuimos guiados por unos amables puertorriqueños. — When we were lost during our trip, we were guided by some kind Puerto Ricans.
Size
No creo que el monte Rushmore sea más grande que el monte Everest. — I don’t think Mount Rushmore is bigger than Mount Everest.
Tu hermana será la más alta del colegio. — Your sister will be the tallest in school.
El ratón vaquero es pequeño — The cowboy mouse is small.
Ese basquetbolista es alto. — That basketball player is tall.
No se electrocutó porque el voltaje era bajo. — He didn’t get electrocuted because the voltage was low.
El elefante azul era enorme. — The blue elephant was huge.
La rata canguro es un animal diminuto. — The kangaroo rat is a tiny animal.
La caja de madera en el ático era pesada. — The wooden box in the attic was heavy.
Las plumas de pavorreal son livianas. — Peacock feathers are light.
Los tallos de bambú que debes usar serán delgados. — The bamboo stems you must use will be thin.
Prefiero usar un yeso que sea grueso. — I prefer to use thick chalk pieces.
Color
Las manzanas son rojas. — Apples are red.
La naranja no será naranja hasta que madure. — The orange won’t be orange until it ripens.
Mi color favorito siempre fue el amarillo. — My favorite color was always yellow.
Recientemente mi color favorito cambió, ahora es verde. — Recently my favorite color changed, now it’s green.
El mar es azul porque refleja el cielo. — The ocean is blue because it reflects the sky.
La flor de jacaranda es morada. — The jacaranda flower is purple.
Ella quiere pintar su pared de rosa. — She wants to paint her wall pink.
La arena de las playas de Cancún es blanca. — The sand in cancún’s beaches is white.
La túnica del mago era negra. — The wizard’s robe was black.
Me parece relajante cuando el día es gris. — It’s relaxing to me when the day is gray.
Shape
El planeta tierra es redondo. — Planet Earth is round.
El pedazo de papel que necesito es cuadrado. — The piece of paper I need is square.
El lienzo inusual del artista era triangular. — The artist’s unusual canvas was triangular.
El movimiento de la rueda de la fortuna es circular. — The ferris wheel’s movement is circular.
La forma de la gelatina es irregular. — Gelatin shape is irregular.
Las alas de la mariposa eran simétricas. — The butterfly’s wings were symmetrical.
El arquitecto audaz construyó una oficina piramidal. — The bold architect constructed a pyramidal office space.
El CD es circular, pero la caja en la que viene es rectangular. — The CD is circular, but the box it comes in is rectangular.
El modelo a escala del planeta era esférico. — The scaled model of the Earth was spherical.
Personality
Mi amiga Mafer es introvertida. — My friend Mafer is introverted.
Mis primos y yo somos extrovertidos. — My cousins and I are extroverted.
El señor de la tienda es muy amable. — The man at the store is very kind.
Frank siempre será honesto contigo. — Frank will always be honest with me.
Mi hermana fue muy inocente para entender ese chiste. — My sister was too naive to understand that joke.
Creo que eres bastante organizada. — I think you’re very organized.
He sido impaciente al hacer filas largas. — I’ve been impatient at long queues
Appearance
La chica con la que salgo es guapa. — The girl I’m dating is good looking.
La bruja que era fea. — The witch was ugly.
Encontrar un oso de agua es muy raro. — Finding a water bear is very rare.
Durante la cuarentena estaba desarreglado a menudo. — He was often unkempt during quarantine.
Mi sobrino aún es muy joven. — My nephew is still very young.
Toda la música que escucha mi hermana es vieja. — All of the music my sister listens to is old.
Adjectives that change meaning between estar and ser
Some adjectives will change depending on whether you use ser or estar. You have to be careful with some of these, because you can end up saying something offensive without wanting to! This handy list will help you know which mistakes to avoid making.
| Word | Meaning with ser | Meaning with estar |
| Bueno/a | Being good | Being attractive (vulgar) |
| Sano | Having a healthy lifestyle | Being healthy |
| Enfermo | Having mental problems | Being sick |
| Malo | Being evil | Being sick |
| Rico | Being rich | Being tasty |
| Vivo | Living organism (noun) | Being alive |
| Orgulloso | Being prideful | Being proud |
| Listo | Being smart | Being ready |
| Interesado | Being interested for selfish gain | Being interested |
| Molesto | Being annoying | Being bothered |
| Sencillo | Leading a simple life / Being easy | Being easy |
| Atento | Being attentive | Being alert |
| Verde | Being green colored | Being ripe |
| Aburrido | Being boring | Being bored |
How to Know When You’re Ready to Speak Spanish?
Actually, you’re already ready! Whenever you learn a new language, speaking it as fast as possible is the best way to get used to it. Adjectives are very important if you want to add some color to your conversations, they can even help you express your opinion in Spanish!
Also, ser verbs can be difficult to learn, but don’t fret!
Put yourself out there by having conversations and making mistakes. People will almost if not always be understanding and appreciate that you’re learning their language. If you want to boost your Spanish skills to the next level, take a free class with a native, certified Spanish speaker today!
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