1.3 Subject Pronouns and the Present tense of ser

In order to understand this concept you will want to know the meanings of the following grammatical terms. First, try
and define the words verbally with your partner. Next, look up the words on the Glossary of Grammatical Terms on
pages 332-335 of your book.
verb: _____________________________________________________________________________________________
infinitive: _________________________________________________________________________________________
subject: ___________________________________________________________________________________________
conjugation: _______________________________________________________________________________________
person: ___________________________________________________________________________________________
tense: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

In order to use verbs you will need to learn about and MEMORIZE the subject pronouns in Spanish. A subject
pronoun tells us who or what is doing the action of a verb and often replaces the name or title of a person or thing. In
both English and Spanish, subject pronouns are divided into three groups: first person, second person, and third
person.

In English the verb “to be” is irregular.
Irregular verbs don’t use the regular patterns
that most other verbs follow. It conjugates like
this:
English
Singular
Plural

1st person
I
We
1st person
2nd person
You
You all
2nd person
(informal)
(informal)
*(formal)
*(formal)
He
They
rd
3 person
In Spanish the verb “ser” means “to be.” It is
irregular too.
 You have to memorize the forms and their meanings.
The conjugations are:
Spanish
Singular
Plural
3rd person
She
It
*Since Spanish has two forms of saying you and you all, the conjugations must differ. Therefore the formal versions of
you and you all actually conjugate as if they were in the 3rd person boxes.


Spanish speakers typically use the informal versions of you and you all (tú, vosotros or vosotras) when they are
talking to friends, family members, and children. They use the formal versions of you and you all (usted or ustedes)
when talking to superiors, teachers, elders, and people they may not know well.
The masculine plural forms nosotros, vosotros and ellos refer to a group of males or a mixed group of males and
females. The feminine plural forms nosotras, vosotras and ellas refers only to groups made exclusively of females.
Try and decide which Spanish subject pronoun you would use in the following situations:
Talking to an older neighbor: ______________ Talking about your neighbors: ______________
Talking to a sibling: ______________
Talking to your parents: ______________
Talking about you and a friend: ______________
Talking about your girlfriends: ______________
Talking to Ms. McCormick: ______________ Talking to Sra. Noon and Srta. Hayes: ______________

Ser is used in Spanish in the following situations (these situations will become more important later when
another verb that means “to be” is introduced). You can use the mnemonic device DOCTOR to remember
these uses.
D - date
O – occupation
C – characteristic
T – time
O – origin
R – relation


The word de (of) is often used with the verb ser. De is used to express origin and also to express who something
belongs to (relation). To show who something belongs to use the following construction:
[noun] + de + [owner]. Spanish never uses an (‘s) to express who something belongs to.
Be careful with the word de (of) in Spanish because when it is followed by the word el (the), it must become del (of
the).
Él
es