Chapter 1 · Who's Talking: Pronouns, Ser and Estar
Lesson 01-02 · about 5 minutes

Ser (1): Eu sou… / Você é…

Goal: Introduce yourself and others — name, origin, nationality, and job — with the present tense of ser.

The forms

Ser /ˈse(ʁ)/ means “to be” in the sense of what or who someone is. It is irregular, so the forms simply have to be learned — but there are only four you need in Brazil.

É is pronounced with an open /ɛ/, as in English bed. In Rio de Janeiro, somos ends in /ʃ/: /ˈsõ.muʃ/.

Introducing yourself with ser

1. Who you are. Eu sou a Ana or simply Sou a Ana (“I’m Ana”). Brazilians often put o (for a man) or a (for a woman) in front of a first name in casual speech; Eu sou Ana is also understood.

2. Where you’re from: ser de. “Where are you from?” is De onde você é? — literally “From where are you?” Answer with Sou de + place: Sou de Tóquio, Sou de São Paulo. Most country names take an article, which merges with de: Sou do Japão, Sou do Brasil. (These contractions are covered in lesson 03-05; for now, just learn your own country as a phrase.)

3. Nationality and job — no “a/an”. English says “I’m a student,” but Portuguese leaves out um/uma after ser with a profession or nationality: Sou estudante, Ele é médico, Sou japonês. Adding um sounds like you mean “a certain kind of…” and is used only when you describe the person further: Ele é um médico muito bom (“He’s a very good doctor”).

4. The word after ser agrees with the person. Nationality and many job words change for a woman and for a group: Ele é brasileiro / Ela é brasileira / Eles são brasileiros. You’ll study this agreement in Chapter 6; for now, learn the forms that describe you.

In conversation

• — Muito prazer. — O prazer é meu./ˈmũj̃.tu pɾaˈzeʁ/ — /u pɾaˈzeʁ ˈɛ ˈmew/"Nice to meet you." "Nice to meet you, too." (lit. "The pleasure is mine.")
• Prazer, eu sou a Ana./pɾaˈzeʁ ˈew ˈso(w) a ˈɐ̃.nɐ/Nice to meet you, I'm Ana.
• — De onde você é? — Sou do Japão./d͡ʒi ˈõ.d͡ʒi voˈse ˈɛ/ — /ˈso(w) du ʒaˈpɐ̃w̃/"Where are you from?" "I'm from Japan."
• — Você é brasileiro? — Não, sou japonês./voˈse ˈɛ bɾa.ziˈle(j).ɾu/ — /ˈnɐ̃w̃ ˈso(w) ʒa.poˈne(j)s/"Are you Brazilian?" "No, I'm Japanese."
• Sou engenheiro. E você?/ˈso(w) ẽ.ʒẽˈɲe(j).ɾu i voˈse/I'm an engineer. And you?
• Ela é médica./ˈɛ.lɐ ˈɛ ˈmɛ.d͡ʒi.kɐ/She's a doctor.
• — Vocês são irmãos? — Não, somos amigos./voˈse(j)s ˈsɐ̃w̃ iʁˈmɐ̃w̃s/ — /ˈnɐ̃w̃ ˈsõ.mus aˈmi.ɡus/"Are you brothers?" "No, we're friends."
• Ele é muito legal./ˈe.li ˈɛ ˈmũj̃.tu leˈɡaw/He's really nice.

Watch out

No um/uma with jobs. Eu sou um engenheiro is not how Brazilians state their job. Say Eu sou engenheiro or just Sou engenheiro.

Ser is not for how you feel. “I’m tired” is Estou cansado /isˈto(w) kɐ̃ˈsa.du/, not Sou cansado. Temporary states use estar, the other “to be” — that’s the next lesson.

É vs. e. É /ˈɛ/ (“is”) has an accent; e (“and”) has none and is pronounced /i/. Sou engenheiro. E você? — “And you?”

Quick check