ser

See also: Appendix:Variations of "ser"

Languages (34)

English

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English

Etymology 1

Noun

ser

1. Abbreviation of serial.

Etymology 2

Noun

ser (plural sers)

1. (historical) An old Indian unit of weight, equal to 80 tolas, or one fortieth of a maund.

Etymology 3

From Middle English ser. Popularised in modern fantasy by George R. R. Martin in the A Song of Ice and Fire series starting in 1996.

Noun

ser (plural sers)

1. (archaic, now chiefly fantasy) Alternative spelling of sir

   He was knighted and became Ser William.

   • 1996, George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones: A Song of Ice and Fire: Book One, Bantam, →ISBN:

     "Ser Willem is a good man and true,” said Ser Oswell.
     “But not of the Kingsguard,” Ser Gerold pointed out.

   • 2014 January 16, Miles Cameron, The Fell Sword, Hachette UK, →ISBN:

     Lady Mary – the Queen's handmaiden – was Ser Gawain's lady; her veil fluttered from his shoulder.

   • 2023 July 21, Ivan Lekoski, Invictus, Austin Macauley Publishers, →ISBN:

     You don't strike me as an ordinary soldier, are you perchance Ser Lancelot Germaine of the Round Table?

Anagrams

• res., ERs, res, RSE, RES, Res., ERS, SRE, ers, -ers, ESR

Asturian

Etymology

From Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse. The form sois (second person plural present indicative) displaced expected *estes from Latin estis, second person plural of esse, while ye (third person singular present indicative) lost its ancestor's final st in est since it would have been too similar to yes (second person singular present indicative). The present subjunctive was extended with the Latin third conjugation endings, with the I in the ancestor verb's present subjunctive (originally part of that tense's endings) becoming part of the root.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/ [ˈseɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: ser

Verb

ser

1. to be

Conjugation

infinitive		ser
gerundive		siendo
participle		m [Term?], f [Term?], n sío, m pl [Term?], f pl [Term?]
person		first singular yo	second singular tu	third singular él/elli	first plural nosotros/nós	second plural vosotros/vós	third plural ellos
indicative	present	soi so	yes	ye	somos	sois	son
	imperfect	yera	yeres	yera	yéremos ~ yéramos	yereis ~ yerais	yeren
	preterite	fui	fuisti ~ fuesti fosti	foi fo	fuimos ~ fuemos fomos	fuistis ~ fuestis fostis	fueron foron
	pluperfect	fuera ~ fuere fora ~ fore	fueras ~ fueres foras ~ fores	fuera ~ fuere fora ~ fore	fuéramos ~ fuéremos fóramos ~ fóremos	fuerais ~ fuereis forais ~ foreis	fueran ~ fueren foran ~ foren
	future	seré sedré	serás sedrás	será sedrá	seremos sedremos	seréis sedréis	serán sedrán
	conditional	sería sedría	seríes sedríes	sería sedría	seríamos ~ seríemos sedríamos ~ sedríemos	seríais ~ seríeis sedríais ~ sedríeis	seríen sedríen
subjunctive	present	seya sía	seyas sías	seya sía	seyamos síamos	seyáis síais	seyan sían
	imperfect	fuera ~ fuere fora ~ fore	fueras ~ fueres foras ~ fores	fuera ~ fuere fora ~ fore	fuéramos ~ fuéremos fóramos ~ fóremos	fuerais ~ fuereis forais ~ foreis	fueran ~ fueren foran ~ foren
imperative			sé			sei

Conjugation of ser

• Gramática de la Llingua Asturiana
• Normes ortográfiques
• Oslin-Ast

Noun

ser m (plural seres)

1. being

Derived terms

• ser humanu

Baure

Noun

ser

1. tooth

   niser — my tooth

   eser — a tooth, someone's tooth

   nitorak to eser — I found a/someone's tooth

References

• Languages of the Amazon (2012, →ISBN

Catalan

Alternative forms

• ésser

Etymology 1

Perhaps borrowed from Aragonese or Spanish ser. Doublet of ésser.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [ˈse]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [ˈsə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈseɾ]

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

ser (first-person singular present soc, first-person singular preterite fui, past participle estat or sigut); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

1. (intransitive) to be, to exist

   Ser o no ser, aquesta és la qüestió.

   To be or not to be, that is the question.

2. (intransitive, +adverbial phrase) to be located (to be in a place)

   La Torre Eiffel és a París. ― The Eiffel Tower is in Paris.

3. (transitive, copulative) to be (used to connect a noun to another noun)
4. (transitive, copulative) to have a characteristic (used to connect a noun to an adjective that describes an inherent property)
5. (auxiliary) auxiliary verb to form the passive voice, together with a past participle

   han estat enganyats

   they have been deceived

Usage notes

• This is one of two verbs that can be translated as to be, the other being estar. Ser/ésser indicates an inherent quality, whereas estar indicates temporary qualities that apply only at a particular time. Ser/ésser relates to estar as essence relates to state, etymologically as well as semantically.

Conjugation

infinitive			ser
gerund			sent, essent
past participle				masculine		feminine
		singular		estat, sigut		estada, siguda
		plural		estats, siguts		estades, sigudes
person		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	soc	ets	és	som	sou	són
	imperfect	era	eres	era	érem	éreu	eren
	future	seré	seràs	serà	serem	sereu	seran
	preterite	fui	fores	fou	fórem	fóreu	foren
	conditional	seria, fora	series, fores	seria, fora	seríem, fórem	seríeu, fóreu	serien, foren
subjunctive		jo	tu	ell/ella vostè	nosaltres nós	vosaltres vós	ells/elles vostès
	present	sigui	siguis	sigui	siguem	sigueu	siguin
	imperfect	fos	fossis	fos	fóssim	fóssiu	fossin
imperative		—	tu	vostè	nosaltres	vosaltres vós	vostès
	affirmative	—	sigues	sigui	siguem	sigueu	siguin
	negative (no)	—	no siguis	no sigui	no siguem	no sigueu	no siguin

    Conjugation of ser (second conjugation, irregular)

Derived terms

• o sigui
• semblar ser
• som-hi

Etymology 2

Nominalization of Etymology 1.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Valencia) [ˈser]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) unknown

Noun

ser m (plural sers)

1. being (living creature)

Further reading

• “ser”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “ser” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Chinese

Etymology 1

From clipping of English server.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): soe¹

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: soe¹
    • Yale: sēu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soe¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sê¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sœː⁵⁵/

Noun

ser

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) server (Classifier: 個／个 c; 部 c)

Derived terms

• 死ser

See also

• server

Etymology 2

From clipping of English search.

Alternative forms

• sear

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): soe¹

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: soe¹
    • Yale: sēu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soe¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sê¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sœː⁵⁵/

Verb

ser

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese, computing) to search on the Internet; to google

See also

• search (soe1 cyu4)

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈsɛr]
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Verb

ser

1. second-person singular imperative of srát

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /seːr/, [seɐ̯ˀ]

Verb

ser

1. present of se

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese ser, from Early Medieval Latin essere, from Latin esse. The forms son (“I am”) and sodes 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 /-ʃ-/ reflects Late Latin /-(d)j-/, as in sexa < sedeat).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈseɾ/ [ˈs̺eɾ]
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Hyphenation: ser

Verb

ser (first-person singular present son, first-person singular preterite fun, past participle sido)
ser (first-person singular present sou, first-person singular preterite fum or fui, past participle sido, reintegrationist norm)

1. (copulative) to be

   Brais é moi alto ― Brais is very tall.

2. (auxiliary) to be; forms the passive voice [with past participle]
3. (intransitive) to be (to have as one’s place of origin) [with de ‘from somewhere’]
4. (intransitive) to be (someone’s); to belong to [with de ‘someone’]
5. (intransitive) to be for; to be to (to have as its purpose) [with para (+ personal infinitive) or de (+ personal infinitive) ‘for doing something’]
6. (intransitive) to be; indicates persistence or reiteration [with a (+ infinitive)]
   • 1929, Antolín Santos Mediante, Escolma:

     anque o matrimoño é cruz,
     i eu negá-lo non pretendo,
     dous son a cargar con ela
     que sempre se alivia o peso

     even though the marriage is a cross,
     I don't mean to deny it,
     there are two carrying it,
     that always relieves the weight

Usage notes

Like Portuguese and Spanish, Galician has two different verbs that are usually translated to English as “to be”. The verb ser relates to essence, origin, or physical description. In contrast, the verb estar relates to current state or position.

Conjugation

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti)	Third-person (el / ela / Vde.)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / Vdes.)
Infinitive
Impersonal	ser
Personal	ser	seres	ser	sermos	serdes	seren
Gerund
	sendo
Past participle
Masculine	sido			sidos
Feminine	sida			sidas
Indicative
Present	son	es	é	somos	sodes	son
Imperfect	era	eras	era	eramos	erades	eran
Preterite	fun	fuches	foi	fomos	fostes	foron
Pluperfect	fora	foras	fora	foramos	forades	foran
Future	serei	serás	será	seremos	seredes	serán
Conditional	sería	serías	sería	seriamos	seriades	serían
Subjunctive
Present	sexa	sexas	sexa	sexamos	sexades	sexan
Imperfect	fose	foses	fose	fósemos	fósedes	fosen
Future	for	fores	for	formos	fordes	foren
Imperative
Affirmative		sé	sexa	sexamos	sede	sexan
Negative (non)		non sexas	non sexa	non sexamos	non sexades	non sexan

    Conjugation of ser (irregular)

	Singular			Plural
	First-person (eu)	Second-person (ti / tu)	Third-person (ele / ela / você)	First-person (nós)	Second-person (vós)	Third-person (eles / elas / vocês)
Infinitive
Impersonal	ser
Personal	ser	seres	ser	sermos	serdes	serem
Gerund
	sendo
Past participle
Masculine	sido			—
Feminine	—			—
Indicative
Present	sou	és	é	somos	sodes, sois	som, são
Imperfect	era	eras	era	éramos	érades, éreis, érais1	eram
Preterite	fum, fui	foste, foche1	foi	fomos	fostes	fôrom, foram
Pluperfect	fora	foras	fora	fôramos	fôrades, fôreis, fôrais1	foram
Future	serei	serás	será	seremos	seredes, sereis	serám, serão
Conditional	seria	serias	seria	seríamos	seríades, seríeis, seríais1	seriam
Subjunctive
Present	seja	sejas	seja	sejamos	sejades, sejais	sejam
Imperfect	fosse	fosses	fosse	fôssemos	fôssedes, fôsseis	fossem
Future	for	fores	for	formos	fordes	forem
Imperative
Affirmative		sê	seja	sejamos	sede	sejam
Negative (nom)		nom sejas	nom seja	nom sejamos	nom sejades, nom sejais	nom sejam

    Reintegrated conjugation of ser (irregular) (See Appendix:Reintegrationism)

¹Less recommended.

Derived terms

• ser quen (“to be able to; to dare”)

Noun

ser m (plural seres)

1. being (living creature)

See also

• estar

Further reading

• “ser”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025
• Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, Ana Isabel Boullón Agrelo (2006–2022) “ser”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega

Hungarian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈʃɛr]
• Hyphenation: ser
• Rhymes: -ɛr

Noun

ser (countable and uncountable, plural serek)

1. (archaic, dialectal, humorous) Alternative form of sör (“beer”).

Usage notes

An archaic and dialectal variant of sör, but today it can also be humorous in informal conversations. In compound words and derivations, almost only sör is used.

Declension

Inflection (stem in -e-, front unrounded harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	ser	serek
accusative	sert	sereket
dative	sernek	sereknek
instrumental	serrel	serekkel
causal-final	serért	serekért
translative	serré	serekké
terminative	serig	serekig
essive-formal	serként	serekként
essive-modal	serül	—
inessive	serben	serekben
superessive	seren	sereken
adessive	sernél	sereknél
illative	serbe	serekbe
sublative	serre	serekre
allative	serhez	serekhez
elative	serből	serekből
delative	serről	serekről
ablative	sertől	serektől
non-attributive possessive – singular	seré	sereké
non-attributive possessive – plural	seréi	serekéi

Possessive forms of ser

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	serem	sereim
2nd person sing.	sered	sereid
3rd person sing.	sere	serei
1st person plural	serünk	sereink
2nd person plural	seretek	sereitek
3rd person plural	serük	sereik

Derived terms

Compound words

• serfőző

Further reading

• ser , redirecting to sör in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Italian

Etymology

Clipping of messer.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɛr/
• Rhymes: -ɛr
• Hyphenation: sèr

Noun

ser m

1. (historical) sir (title and form of address for a gentleman, shortened from messer)

   Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ― Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (literally, “Leonardo son of Peter, from Vinci”)

Javanese

Romanization

ser

1. Romanization of ꦱꦼꦂ

Ladino

Verb

ser (Hebrew spelling סיר)

1. to be

Lolopo

Etymology

From Proto-Loloish *swa² (Bradley), from Proto-Sino-Tibetan. Cognate with Burmese သွား (swa:), Japhug tɯɕɣa, Tibetan སོ (so), Drung sa, Tedim Chin ha:², Jingpho wa.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [sə²¹]

Noun

ser 

1. (Yao'an) tooth

Mauritian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sɛː/

Etymology 1

From French sœur.

Noun

ser

1. sister

   Synonym: didi

Etymology 2

From French cher.

Adjective

ser

1. dear
2. expensive

Middle Dutch

Noun

ser

1. (title and pronoun) sir, lord
   • 1301-1350, Van den VII vroeden van binnen Rome. Een dichtwerk der XIVde eeuw (INL)

     Garijn, ser Diederecs sone

     Garijn, sir Diederec's son

   • 1414, Hennen van Merchtenen's Cornicke van Brabant (INL)

     Als ijemen sterven plach, hinc men daer teken ser wapen

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Further reading

• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “ser (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN, page I

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

ser

1. Alternative form of sire
   • 1407, The Testimony of William Thorpe, page 40:

     And I seide, “Ser, in his tyme maister Ioon Wiclef was holden of ful many men the grettis clerk that thei knewen lyuynge vpon erthe.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Etymology 2

Noun

ser

1. Alternative form of sere (“dry”)

Etymology 3

Adjective

ser

1. Alternative form of sere (“differing”)