Still lost on SER

[AlwaysLost]

So I am given this list with the top saying "SER=To Be" why? What is the purpose of this word given the words that follow?

Yo soy = I am
Tú eres = you are
Él/ella/Ud. es = he/she/Prof.
Nosotros/as somos = we
Ellos/ellas/Uds. son = they


Why is "To be" lisedt? What is it trying to tell me?

[Rusty]

'Ser' is the infinitive, just as 'to be' is the infinitive in English.
(The particle 'to' doesn't actually exist in the Spanish equivalent. It is only an English constraint that we add the particle. This is called the full infinitive. When the particle is removed, it's called the bare infinitive. ALL Spanish infinitives are bare infinitives, using the English definition.)

When these infinitives are conjugated into the present tense, the resulting verbs happen to be quite irregular, in BOTH languages. They're irregular because they don't use the "normal" endings similar verbs take.

For instance, let's look at the regular verb 'eat'. The full infinitive is 'to eat'. When the infinitive is conjugated in the present tense, the bare infinitive (eat) is used. We add the ending 's' for the third person conjugation (he eats, she eats, it eats), and we add no ending for the other persons.

In Spanish, a regular verb like 'comer' has a different ending for each person in the present tense (yo como, tú comes, él/ella/usted come, nosotros,-as comemos, vosotros,-as coméis, ellos/ellas/ustedes comen). Before the ending is added, the infinitive is first reduced to a stem by dropping the 'er' ending.

However, the infinitives 'to be' and 'ser' are classified as irregular verbs, when conjugated. They don't follow the "norm" for similar verbs. They're irregular in BOTH languages.

There are many irregular verbs, in BOTH languages, so don't get too hung up. Just keep in mind that English infinitives are usually expressed with the particle 'to' and Spanish infinitives don't have any such particle, expressed or implied.

Spanish infinitives are classified into three types, depending on how they end: -ar, -er, or -ir
The conjugated verb endings are classified as regular or irregular, and there are several kinds of irregular endings.

[AlwaysLost]

My English is not good enough to understand some of what you are saying.
Yo soy = I am
but
Soy de = I am from
The "Yo" gets dropped because why?

But if I understand this correctly then I can say "Eres de......" to mean "You are from?"


Edit: that's a dumb question, I looked it up on Google translate.........

[Rusty]

The subject pronouns for first and second person are not normally needed because the verb ending conveys that information.
Soy = I am
Eres = you are
Somos = we are

We add the subject pronoun, where it normally isn't required, to add emphasis.