SerTo be is one of the most fundamental and important Portuguese verbs. It also happens to be an irregular verb, which helps explain why the conjugations below look quite different from the verb’s infinitive form. For now, we’ll focus on ser in the presente do indicativopresent tense :
Indicativo
Ela é sempre pontualShe is always punctual
As you can see, verb conjugations in Portuguese change depending on who is doing the action. Don’t worry – most verbs are easier to conjugate than this one. For now, do your best to commit this to memory, since these verb forms will be popping up a lot throughout the lessons… as well as within your own Portuguese conversations!
Using the Verb Ser
As you can see in the present tense examples below, ser can be used to…
- Introduce yourself or someone else:
Eu sou o João. Ela é a Ana.I am João. She is Ana.
- Describe someone or something:
Nós somos mulheres. Eles são homens.We are women. They are men.
- Indicate an occupation or profession:
Eu sou escritor. Tu és professor.I am a writer. You are a teacher.
É meio-dia e hoje é domingo.It is midday and today is Sunday.
…as well as many other uses, which we’ll explore in future lessons.
Id love to have a “Continue” button at the bottom of these lessons. 🙂
It’s definitely at the top of the list 🙂 Thanks for your support!
Continue button is finally live across the site. Hope it helps, and thanks for your patience 🙂
A section for generic sentences, i.e. I would (to order) with link of the verbs to their correct area…
Our Learning Studio does include exercises where you need to order words to form correct sentences and also match English sentences with their translations, among others 🙂
On its way, hopefully in the next couple days! On the surface it seems pretty dorky to not just have it there yet, but there’s some additional complexity in getting it wrapped up. With several different variables like different activity types (Lessons / Shorties / Learning Notes), and scenarios in which users are able to jump around across different Units at the same time, there’s a bit more technical complexity that we’ve had to work around. But our programmer ninja Alex is at the finish line… Thanks for your patience, our members are the best! 🙂
Continue button is ab fab!
Por favor: why is it “eu sou escritor” and not “Eu sou o escritor”,
and “tu és professor” and not “tu és o professor”?
Thanks, Anton! We don’t add the definite article, because then we’d be saying “I am the writer” and “You are the professor”. This doesn’t fit when you’re simply stating your profession 🙂
Joseph,
Perhaps Anton meant to say “ eu sou um escritor”, “ I am a writer” ?
That indefinite article is not needed?
Thanks for your help.
Hi there. Actually, the indefinite article can be omitted in that type of sentence. You will constantly see and hear it both ways (present or absent) 🙂
Well done section
Hello! Is the pronoun ‘vós’ used? What is the form of ‘ser’ with it? Thanks in advance!
The pronoun is still taught, but generally considered archaic. It’s only occasionally seen or heard, especially in certain northern regions of the country. The conjugation with vós in the simple present is vós sois.
Is there a rule for when “s” sounds like “sh”? Ex. Does “s” always or almost always sound like “sh” at the end of a sentence?
Good question – we have a Learning Note here that goes into alllll the details 🙂 The Letters S and C
i think it would be good to go back to previous lessons for a revision before the new lesson starts
Hi Andrew, Great idea – you can definitely review the old lessons first. When you get to the dialogue (or the last lesson) of a unit, look at the upper left corner and you should see a circle with a left arrow. Click that and it will take you back to the unit so that you can choose the lesson you’d like to review.
Continue both of you donig fab work helping people to teach portugese ..thank you
I hate to mark a lesson as “complete” but if I don’t move on I’ll be stuck there forever. Kind of anxious for conversational Portuguese but know that the basics need to be learned. Nonetheless, I am loving this! What a great way to learn a language. This should be advertised on every Portuguese google site such as Azores.com or through PALCUS. I looked EVERYWHERE to find European Portuguese.
Olá, Gordon. Muito obrigado pelo comentário!
It’s definitely good to work through all the basics and take your time with them. Still, don’t be afraid to switch things up sometimes and listen to other shorties off the units, podcasts, watch some videos (like this nice documentary, Passo a Passo), and so on 🙂 Keep it fun!
Even though you typically drop the pronoun, would you still drop it if you’re addressing someone in a formal setting?
Olá, Antony. Addressing people formally has some complexity to it! Here’s a Learning Note that covers it pretty thoroughly and should answer your question: How to Address People Formally vs. Informally
I’m loving your program! Thanks so much for creating such a comprehensive program. On this page it would be helpful for me if u had an audio of the whole phrase ie.. I am, You are Etc. even though we are hearing the I,you, he, she and they elsewhere it still would be helpful for me personally.
Fantastic clear pronunciation and really good exercises to practise verbs. Conjugation of verbs in Portuguese can be so difficult as an English speaker because of all the different endings.
The plural of man, men, is homens? Instead of homems? Or is that a misprint?
Yes, the plural form is “homens”. Words that end in m are made plural by changing the m to -ns. You can read about the other plural rules here: https://www.practiceportuguese.com/learning-notes/plurals-in-portuguese/ 🙂
Love this site how it’s European Portuguese and not any other Portuguese that I’ve come across on other sites. Definitely want to speak fluent with my husband and his family!
Question though, when I read Eu sou o João…. how do you know what to place before the name. I know it matters with masculine and feminine names but do all male names have an “o” before it. Would Alexandre have a “O” before his name or something different. Those little details always confused me when learning to speak Portuguese.
Thanks!!!
Thanks, so glad you’re enjoying the site! Yes, you’re correct that a male would put an “o” before his name and a female would use an “a”. 🙂
I really loved it, it was very helpful
Thanks you so much
It would be great if there was the option to print off a worksheet/homework where we could practice what we have learnt so far. Once I finish learning notes or lessons I try to use what I have learnt by writing sentences but as a beginner, I’m not always sure if I’m on the right track.
It could be something simple like asking someone what food they like, and what their telephone number is, if they have the time, form simple sentences with verbs etc. To help practice asking questions, writing and speaking, As another way to consolidate what we are learning.
Here the “es” in tu es is pronounced as “Eshh” whereas in the quiz it is pronounced “ess” with an “s” sound at the end. Which one is correct?
The word “és” when pronounced in isolation sounds just like this, with a “sh” sound at the end. But in a sentence, the S might be pronounced differently depending on the word that follows. Here’s a learning note about this: Pronunciation Variations | Practice Portuguese. If you’d like more clarification, let me know (either here or via our support channel) which exact quiz question you’re referring to, so we can double check 🙂
This helped me lot