Ser Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

ser — to be — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a irregular -er verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is the verb of identity, description, origin and time: you use it to say who someone is, what something is like, where someone comes from and what time it is. It shares its pretérito perfeito — fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram — with ir, so context tells you whether fui means “I was” or “I went”. Learn ser and estar together, because the choice between them is the first decision in almost every Portuguese sentence. On this page you will find ser in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the ser conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the ser pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with ser

In the present tense

  • “Eu sou professor todos os dias.” — “I am a teacher”
  • “Tu és professor todos os dias.” — “You are a teacher”
  • “Ele é professor todos os dias.” — “He is a teacher”
  • “Nós somos professor todos os dias.” — “We are a teacher”
  • “Vós sois professor todos os dias.” — “You are a teacher”
  • “Eles são professor todos os dias.” — “They are a teacher”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu fui professor ontem.” — “I was a teacher”
  • “Tu foste professor ontem.” — “You were a teacher”
  • “Ele foi professor ontem.” — “He was a teacher”
  • “Nós fomos professor ontem.” — “We were a teacher”
  • “Vós fostes professor ontem.” — “You were a teacher”
  • “Eles foram professor ontem.” — “They were a teacher”

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Eu era professor antigamente.” — “I used to be a teacher”
  • “Tu serás professor amanhã.” — “You will be a teacher”
  • “Ele seria professor um dia.” — “He would be a teacher”
  • “É importante que nós sejamos professor.” — “It is important that we be a teacher”
  • “Sê professor!” — “Be a teacher!”

How ser is used

The first thing to know about ser is its core meaning: to be. It is the verb of identity, description, origin and time: you use it to say who someone is, what something is like, where someone comes from and what time it is. It shares its pretérito perfeito — fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram — with ir, so context tells you whether fui means “I was” or “I went”. Learn ser and estar together, because the choice between them is the first decision in almost every Portuguese sentence. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company ser keeps. The present eu form is sou, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho sido, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what ser does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need sou, never ser. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho sido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle sido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Ser in context

Eu sou professor todos os dias. Tu és professor todos os dias. Ele é professor todos os dias. Nós somos professor todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of ser is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — sou, és, é, somos — while the meaning stays the same: to be. Eu fui professor ontem. Tu foste professor ontem. Ele foi professor ontem. Nós fomos professor ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of ser appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to be — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu ser professor.”

✓ Right: “Eu sou professor todos os dias.”

The infinitive ser never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form sou.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu és professor.”

✓ Right: “Eu sou professor todos os dias.”

és is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is sou — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou professor ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu fui professor ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito fui here, not the present sou.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou sido professor.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho sido professor esta semana.”

ser takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho sido — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on ser across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of ser in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) sou
    • B) és
    • C) é
    • D) somos

  2. What is the eu form of ser in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens sido
    • B) tem sido
    • C) tenho sido
    • D) temos sido

  3. What is the ele/ela form of ser in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) eras
    • B) éramos
    • C) éreis
    • D) era

  4. What is the nós form of ser in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) seremos
    • B) serei
    • C) serás
    • D) será

  5. What is the tu form of ser in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) seria
    • B) serias
    • C) seríamos
    • D) seríeis

  6. What is the eu form of ser in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) foras
    • B) fôramos
    • C) fora
    • D) fôreis

  7. What is the nós form of ser in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) seja
    • B) sejas
    • C) sejais
    • D) sejamos

  8. What is the gerund of ser?

    • A) sendo
    • B) sido
    • C) ser
    • D) sou

  9. What is the past participle of ser?

    • A) sendo
    • B) sido
    • C) ser
    • D) sou

  10. What does ser mean in English?

  • A) to have
  • B) —
  • C) to be
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) és — the correct form is és. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho sido — the correct form is tenho sido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) era — the correct form is era. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) seremos — the correct form is seremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) serias — the correct form is serias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) fora — the correct form is fora. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) sejamos — the correct form is sejamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) sendo — the correct form is sendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) sido — the correct form is sido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to be — the correct form is to be. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does ser mean in English?

ser means “to be”. You use it whenever you talk about to be in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is ser regular or irregular?

ser is irregular. ser is irregular in presente, pretérito perfeito, pretérito imperfeito, pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples, presente do subjuntivo, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo, futuro do subjuntivo, imperativo afirmativo, imperativo negativo — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of ser?

The gerund is sendo and the past participle is sido. The perfect tenses use ter + sido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of ser?

On the ser conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The ser pretérito perfeito tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for ser, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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