Traditional grammar considers ser [to be] as a verb whose sole function is to link the Subject to its Predicative, and therefore only analyzed at the limits of the clause structure, de-contextualized, as a meaningless constituent, i.e., a verb that does not present any verbal transitivity. The objective of this study is to propose a new viewpoint that adds an additional understanding of the verb ser. The theoretical-methodological orientation of this work is Systemic-Functional Linguistics (LSF). The analysis was based on texts extracted from the opinion and editorial pages of major Brazilian newspapers. The results of the analysis reveal that the verb ser performs a more comprehensive function, that is, a function in discourse. The conclusions reached contribute to enhance our understanding of the verb ser in the field of the analysis and description of the Portuguese language, as well as in the domain of discourse analysis.