Learn Romance Languages Verb Conjuations Together - French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese Vocabulary Side-by-Side

Romance Languages Verbs: Conjugations of Be (être / essere / ser / ser / ser)

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Catalan, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese have two verbs meaning be in English. Go to conjugations of stare and estar.

English French Italian Catalan Spanish Portuguese
Infinitive: to be être essere ser ser ser
           
Present: am, is, are suis sono sóc soy sou
es sei ets eres és
est è és es é
sommes siamo som somos somos
êtes siete sou sois sois
sont sono són son são
           
Imperfect: was, were / used to be étais ero era era era
étais eri eres eras eras
était era era era era
étions eravamo érem éramos éramos
étiez eravate éreu erais éreis
étaient erano eren eran eram
           
Preterite: was, were fus fui fui fui fui
(rare in French or Italian speech) fus fosti fores fuiste foste
(alternative Catalan below) fut fu fou fue foi
  fûmes fummo fórem fuimos fomos
  fûtes foste fóreu fuisteis fostes
  furent furono foren fueron foram
           
Future: will be serai sarò seré seré serei
seras sarai seràs serás serás
sera sarà serà será será
serons saremo serem seremos seremos
serez sarete sereu seréis sereis
seront saranno seran serán serão
           
Conditional: would be serais sarei seria sería seria
serais saresti series serías serias
serait sarebbe sera sería seria
serions saremmo seríem seríamos seríamos
seriez sareste seríeu serías seríeis
seraient sarebbero serien serían seriam
           
Present Subjunctive: am, is, are sois sia sigui sea seja
sois sia siguis seas sejas
soit sia sigui sea seja
soyons siamo siguem seamos sejamos
soyez siate sigueu seáis sejais
soient siano siguin sean sejam
           
Imperfect Subjunctive: was, were fusse fossi fos fuera fosse
(rare in French speech) fusses fossi fossis fueras fosses
(alternative Spanish below) fût fosse fos fuera fosse
  fussions fossimo fóssim fuéramos fôssemos
  fussiez foste fóssiu fuerais fôsseis
  fussent fossero fossin fueran fossem
           
Affirmative Imperative: be
Singular Familiar sois sii sigues
Singular Formal soyez sia sigui sea seja
Let's... soyons siamo siguem seamos sejamos
Plural familiar you soyez siate sigueu sed sede
Plural formal you soyez siano siguin sean sejam
 
Negative Imperative: don't be
Singular familiar you ne sois pas non essere no siguis no seas não sejas
Singular formal you ne soyez pas non sia no sigui no sea não seja
Let's not... ne soyons pas non siamo no siguem no seamos não sejamos
Plural Familiar ne soyez pas non siate no sigueu no seáis não sejais
Plural Formal ne soyez pas non siano no siguin no sean não sejam
           
Gerund: being
Present Participle: being
en étant
étant
essendo
essente
sent siendo sendo
Past Participle: been été stato estat / sigut sido sido
           
Auxiliary verb in perfect tenses avoir essere haver haber ter

 

The periphrastic past in Catalan is an alternative to the preterite. It is formed by using anar as an auxiliary verb followed by the infinitive.

vaig ser
vas ser
va ser
vam ser
vau ser
van ser

There is an alternative form of the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish, which is more similar to Portuguese. Simply replace -ra- with -se- for all conjugations:

fuera / fuese
fueras / fueses
fuera / fuese
fuéramos / fuésemos
fuerais / fueseis
fueran / fuesen

The future subjunctive is only used in formal or literary Spanish, but it is easy to conjugate since it is nearly identical to the imperfect subjunctive forms. The future subjunctive in Portuguese is very common and the same endings are used for the personal infinitive (see below).

Spanish Portuguese
fuere for
fueres fores
fuere for
fuéremos formos
fuereis fordes
fueren forem

The personal infinitive in Portuguese uses the infinitive as the stem + the endings of the future subjunctive.

ser
seres
ser
sermos
serdes
serem

There is an alternative form of the past perfect in Portugueuse which only uses one word rather than an auxiliary verb + past participle. These conjugations are quite similar to the imperfect subjunctive conjugations using -ra- in Spanish. However, this simple form is only used in formal or literary Portuguese. (Note that the imperfect subjunctive in Spanish using -ra- can also be used in formal or literary language as an alternative to the compound past perfect.)

fora
foras
fora
fôramos
fôreis
foram

 


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