THE VERBS:
SER (TO BE), ESTAR (TO BE) & HABER (TO HAVE)
The verbs ser, estar and haber are irregular and used very frequently in Spanish.
PRESENT SER:
Yo soy
Tú eres
Él/ella/usted es
Nosotros/-as somos
Vosotros/-as sois
Ellos/-as son
USES OF THE VERB SER:
1. Identifying a person:
- Ella es Ana y él es Juan. (She is Ana and he is Juan)
- Este edificio es un palacio. (This building is a palace)
2. Profession:
- Mi padre es médico. (My father is a doctor)
- Elena es profesora. (Elena is a teacher)
3. Nationality /origin:
- Jorge es de Barcelona. (Jorge is from Barcelona)
- Pilar es española. (Pilar is Spanish)
4. Describing people and things:
- Mis hermanos son altos. (My brothers are tall)
- La clase de literatura es interesante. (The literature class is interesting)
- Mi piso es pequeño. (My apartment is small)
5. Possession:
- Las gafas son de Juan. (The glasses are Juan’s)
- Nuestras maletas son aquellas. (Those are our suitcases)
6. Definitions:
- ¿Qué significa la palabra ‘orgulloso’? Que es arrogante. (What does the word ‘pride’ mean? That he’s arrogant)
7. Asking for and responding about prices:
- ¿Cuánto es? Son 20€. (How much is it? That’s 20€)
8. Asking for the date:
- ¿Qué día es hoy? Es lunes. (What day is it today? It’s Monday)
9. Time:
- ¿Qué hora es? Son las cinco. (What time is it? It’s five)
- Es de día, es de noche. (It’s daytime, it’s night)
PRESENT TENSE OF THE VERB ESTAR.
Yo estoy
Tú estás
Él/ella está
Nosotros/-as estamos
Vosotros/-as estáis
Ellos/-as están
USES OF THE VERB ESTAR:
1. Space and time:
- Las entradas están en la mesa. (The tickets are on the table)
- ¿Está María en casa? (Is Maria home?)
2. State:
- Carlos está enfermo. (Carlos is sick)
- Los chicos están nerviosos. (The boys are nervous)
- Mi padre está calvo. (My dad is bald)
- La habitación está limpia. (The room is clean)
THE VERB HABER
This irregular verb is used often in Spanish in the third person: Hay (there are).
USES OF HAY (THERE ARE)
To speak of the existence or non-existence of people, animals, objects and places.
- Hay un coche. (There’s a car)
- Hay pan. (There’s bread)
- Hay flores. (There are flowers)
- Hay mucha gente. (There are a lot of people)
- Hay un libro. (There’s a book)
- ¿Hay una farmacia? (Is there a pharmacy?)
- Hay cervezas en la nevera. (There are beers in the fridge)
- Allí hay un payaso. (There’s a clown there)
Articles (el/la/los/las) or the possessive case (mi/mis, tu/tus, su/sus, nuestro/-a/-os/-as, vuestro/-a/-os/-as) are never used with this verb.
- En mi barrio hay un estanco. (There’s a tobacco store in my neighborhood)
- En mi barrio hay estancos. (There are tobacco stores in my neighborhood)
- En esta ciudad hay mucha gente. (There are a lot of people in this city)