ser

Meaning

1. (copulative) to be (to have the given quality), especially a quality that is intrinsic or not expected to change, contrasting with estar which denotes a temporary quality
2. (transitive) to be (to be an example or type of, or the same as)
3. (auxiliary) to be; forms the passive voice
4. (intransitive) to be; indicates a point in time
5. (intransitive) to be in (to be located in)
6. (intransitive) to be (to have as one’s place of origin)
7. (intransitive) to be (someone’s); to belong to
8. (intransitive) to be for; to be to (to have as its purpose)
9. (impersonal) to be supposed to; should; introduces an expected or demanded action
10. (transitive) to be; to cost (to be worth a given amount of money)
11. (intransitive) to happen; to take place; to occur
12. (intransitive) to be against or in favour of
13. (intransitive,poetic) to exist; to be
14. (impersonal,transitive) used for emphasis

Frequency

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈse(ʁ)/

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese ser, from Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse. The forms sou (“I am”) and sois pl (“you are”) derive from a Vulgar Latin *sonō and *sutis. Along the way, the verb absorbed Old Galician-Portuguese seer < Latin sedēre (“sit”). The latter supplied the present subjunctive of modern ser, where /-ʒ-/ reflects Late Latin /-(d)j-/, as in seja < sedeat).

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