Hello

In this part we are going to talk about 'to be' in Spanish (Ser vs Estar). We use Ser and Estar almost the same like in English, followed by adjective, gerund etc. You also have to remember that there're two kind of 'to be' here so each of it has different purpose.

SER

Ser is commonly used for something that is permanent (like something we have from we're born till dead) something that is not likely to change in the future. So, SER mostly used for Description, Origin and Time.

First, we will conjugate SER when we put together with subject:

Now, let's see how it works.

DESCRIPTION

Describing people from name, appearance, job, relationship status and also religion.

For example:

To tell about name

• Son Marc y Alejandra, los estudiantes extranjeros : They are Marc and Alejandra, the foreign students.

• Hola! Soy Dinda : Hello! I am Dinda.

Or people also say

• “Hola! Me llamo Dinda” (It literally means “Hello! I call myself Dinda”)

To dercribe something

• La chica es muy alta : That girl is very tall

• Tus ojos son verde : Your eyes are green

To describe job

• Soy estudiante de Universitat de Barcelona : I am a student of UB

• Catarina es la profesora de Quimica : Catarina is a chemistry teacher

• Mi hermana es azafata : My sister is stewardess

To describe relationship status

• Miriam es mi novia : Miriam is my girlfriend

• Soy soltera : I am single

• El es mi mardio : He is my husband.

To describe religion

• Soy musulman : I am muslim

• Xabi es católico : Xabi is Catholic

ORIGIN

It could tell the origin of people or goods.

To tell origin (place) of person

• Soy de Espana : I am from Spain

• Lindsay es de Estados Unidos : Lindsay is from United States

Origin of goods

• Estas zapatillas son Italia : These shoes are from Itali

• Sangria es un refresco de Espana :Sangria is refresment drink from Spain

Material of goods

• La silla es de aluminio : the chair is made of aluminium

• El anillo es de plata : my ring is made of silver

TIME

time can be day, hours, or dates.

Day

• Hoy es domingo : Today is Sunday

• Ayer fue mi cumpleaños : Yesterday was my birthday

Date

• Hoy es 13 de Marzo de 2013 : Today is March 13th 2013

Time

• Ahora son las nueve en punto : Now it's 9 o'clock

• Son las cuatro cuarenta : It is four forty

• Es la una y medio de la tarde : It is one thirty in the evening

Read the previous article about Subject in Spanish and next article to be (Estar) in Spanish

source: Spanish Dictionary with a lot of elaboration.