📖LearnModule 1 · Lesson 16 of 30Basic User · CEFR A1, first halfUnit 4 · Me and my family
Yo soy — I am
Module 1 of the free Spanish course (CEFR A1, first half), lesson 16 of 30: Ser, "to be", is the verb behind who and what you are. On this page: 10 words with their genders and respellings, the rule, a watch-out line, the conjugation table and the audio — the study notes behind the workbook's QR.
The words
Spanish
English
Say it
yo soy
I am
yoh SOY
tú eres
you are
too EH-rehs
él es
he is
ehl EHS
ella es
she is
EH-yah ehs
contento
happy (m)
kohn-TEHN-toh
contenta
happy (f)
kohn-TEHN-tah
alto
tall (m)
AHL-toh
alta
tall (f)
AHL-tah
simpático
nice (m)
seem-PAH-tee-koh
simpática
nice (f)
seem-PAH-tee-kah
Respellings follow the course’s say-it key; the stressed syllable is in capitals. Print this lesson’s flashcards (PDF) — the words on the front, the English and respelling on the back.
Hear the words
Each word is read twice — say it back in the gap. Computer-generated voice; credits on the course page.
La regla · The rule
Ser, "to be", is the verb behind who and what you are. Its three singular forms carry most beginner sentences: yo soy, tú eres, él es / ella es.
Y también · And also
The pronoun is optional: soy alta is a full sentence, because the -oy ending already says "I". Each describing word below shows two forms, -o for a male and -a for a female. Speak whichever is true.
Ojo · Watch out
The ending you write is the ending you hear: contenta for a female speaker, contento for a male one. Pick the form that is true of you and it will always sound right.
ser — the table
yo soy · tú eres · él/ella es
Do it now — on paper
Say all 10 words aloud twice from the respelling, then once from the Spanish spelling alone — begin with yo soy.
Copy every word with its accents on paper; then cover the English column and write each meaning back from the Spanish.
Write out ser in full from memory, every person, and check each form against the table above.
This free course is the reading half. The writing half — write-in lessons, daily practice pages with built-in review, self-checks and a full answer key — is the companion workbook series, The Spanish Ladder: one workbook per module, fifteen in all, released band by band with the Basic band (Modules 1–5) first.
Keep these words
Turn this lesson’s words into flashcards, then space your reviews — the two habits the research behind our study guides backs hardest.