Spanish 1 Unit 4: The Verb Ser and Personal Pronouns | Notes and practice

Notes

yo, tú, él, ella, usted, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos, ellas, ustedes.
A mixed group uses the masculine form. Ustedes is the plural "you" in Latin America; vosotros is used in Spain.
Pronouns are often dropped because the verb shows the subject.

yo soy	nosotros somos
tú eres	vosotros sois
él / ella / usted es	ellos / ellas / ustedes son

Use ser for description, personality, occupation, origin, nationality, time, dates, relationships, material and where events take place.
No article before a plain profession: Es profesor.

¿De dónde eres? — Soy de... Countries are capitalized; nationalities are lowercase adjectives that agree: mexicano/a, español/a, inglés/inglesa, canadiense.

¿Quién(es)? who, ¿Cómo? what like / how, ¿De dónde? from where, ¿Qué? what, ¿Cuál? which / what.

Each topic has its own short notes and practice.

Complete: "Yo ___ de Puerto Rico, pero mis padres ___ de Cuba."

Which pronoun would you use for "my friends Laura and Inés"?

Complete: "Ellos son de Inglaterra. Son ___."

Read: "Mi amigo Tomás es de Madrid. Es muy gracioso y un poco perezoso. Su madre es profesora." What is true?

Which sentence correctly uses ser?

A new student says "Soy de Lima." Which follow-up question asks what she is like?

Write your answer first, then open the scoring guide.

Free-response question

Introduce yourself and a friend to a new class in Spanish.

(a) Say your name, where you are from and your nationality.

Show the answer and scoring guide

Me llamo Alex. Soy de Chicago. Soy estadounidense.

Check off the points you earned:

(b) Introduce your friend Valeria, who is from Mexico and is nice and smart.

Show the answer and scoring guide

Ella es mi amiga Valeria. Es de México. Es mexicana. Es simpática e inteligente.

Check off the points you earned:

1 point: es de México and mexicana
1 point: feminine adjective simpática (and inteligente) agreeing with Valeria

(c) Write one sentence about both of you using nosotros, and give two reasons it needs the verb ser.

Show the answer and scoring guide

Nosotros somos estudiantes y somos muy trabajadores. It needs ser because it tells an occupation (students) and a characteristic (hard-working).

Check off the points you earned: