Herramientas de la lengua
Los verbos
Why do you want to know this?
Verbs are the heart of every sentence and they help us express what we have done and when we have done it or will do it or hope to do it. Most people who already speak some Spanish are comfortable talking in the present, the past and the future but there are some other tenses that are not used as often and might need practice.
1. Verbs
What are verbs?
Generally speaking a verb is the word in a sentence that conveys an action. The verbs in the following sentences are in bold:
- Messi plays soccer – Messi juega fútbol
- Selena sang “Como la flor” – Selena cantó “Como la flor”
What is an infinitive?
A non-conjugated verb is known as an “infinitive.” Since there is no subject specified, an infinitive has “infinite” conjugation possibilities. Notice how there is no indication as to what the subject of an infinitive is or when is the action taking place. English infinitives include the word “to,” Spanish infinitives are only one word :
- To eat = comer
- To dance = bailar
- To live = vivir
¡Practiquemos!
¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!
2 Conjugations and tenses
What does it mean to conjugate?
Conjugating is the act of taking a verb and changing it so that it “agrees” with whomever is doing the action and conveys when they are doing it. Notice verbs change more in Spanish than English
- I eat cake – Yo como pastel
- You eat cake – Tú comes pastel
- He eats cake – Él come pastel
- We eat cake – Nosotros comemos pastel
What are tenses?
A tense is a form of a verb that indicates in what time frame the action is taking place. There are three basic tenses: present, past and future:
- I run – Yo corro
- I ran – Yo corrí
- I will run – Yo correré
But there also are more tenses (let’s not worry about them now). For example:
- I had run – Yo había corrido
- I have run. – Yo he corrido
- I will have run – Yo habré corrido
¡Practiquemos!
¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!
3 Conjugations of regular verbs
Patterns for verb conjugations
Spanish infinitives end in one of three forms: AR, ER, IR and their conjugation usually follows a pattern for each ending. When verbs are regular the root stays the same and only the ending changes. Notice these verb conjugations in the present for each of the AR, ER, IR forms.
Many verbs are “regular” and follow the patterns, for example:
- AR – estudiar, hablar, tocar
- ER – beber, correr, leer,
- IR – abrir, escribir, recibir
¡Practiquemos!
¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!
4. Conjugation of irregular verbs
Irregular verbs can be challenging. You can always look them up HERE, but it is also a good idea to practice them so they come more naturally. There are three types of irregularities.
Irregularities that follow a certain pattern
- Alternating diphthong in the root [ie] and [e]
- Pensar = yo pienso, tú piensas, él piensa, nosotros pensamos, ellos piensan
- Sentir = yo siento, tú sientes él siente, nosotros sentimos, ellos sienten
- Mentir = yo miento, tú mientes, él miente, nosotros mentimos, ellos mienten
2. Alternating diphthong in the root [ue] and [o]
- Volver = yo vuelvo, tú vuelves, él vuelve, nosotros volvemos, ellos vuelven
- Poder = yo puedo, tú puedes, él puede, nosotros podemos, ellos pueden
- Contar = yo cuento, tú cuentas, él cuenta, nosotros contamos, ellos cuentan
3. The ending “zco” for verbs that end in CER (like conocer)
- Conocer = yo conozco, tú conoces, él conoce, nosotros conocemos, ellos conocen
- Traducir = yo traduzco, tú traduces, él traduce, nosotros traducimos, ellos traducen
- Ofrecer = yo ofrezco, tú ofreces, él ofrece, nosotros ofrecemos, ellos ofrecen
Irregularities in spelling so when conjugated the verbs still make the appropriate sounds
- Verbs ending in -ger, -gir change the “g” to “j” before -o to represent the appropriate sound
- escoger → escojo, escoges… ; dirigir → dirijo, diriges…
- Verbs ending in -gar, change the “g” to “gue” to represent the appropriate sound
- pagar → yo pago, que tú pagues, que él pague
- Verbs ending in -guar, change the “gu” to “güe” to represent the appropriate sound
- averiguar→ yo averiguo, que tú averigües, que él averigüe
- Verbs ending in -guir change the “gu” to “g” before -o to represent the appropriate sound
- distinguir → distingo, distingues…
- Verbs ending in -cer, -cir change the “c” to “z” before -o to represent the appropriate sound
- vencer → venzo, vences… ; esparcir → esparzo, esparces…
- Verbs ending in -car change the “que” in some tenses to represent the appropriate sound
- tocar → toqué, que tú toques, que él toque…
- Verbs where the letter “i” goes between two other vowels when conjugated changes to “y” to represent the appropriate sound
- Leer → leyendo, leyó (no leió), Ceer → creyendo, creyó (no creió)
Irregularities that are unpredictable and you just have to practice
- Ser → yo soy, tú eres, él es, nosotros somos, ellos son
- Caber → yo quepo tú cabes, él cabe, nosotros cabemos, ellos caben
- Caer → yo caigo, tú caes, él cae, nosotros caemos, ellos caen
- Saber → yo sé, tú sabes, él sabe, nosotros sabemos, ellos saben
- Tener → yo tengo, tú tienes, él tiene, nosotros tenemos, ellos tienen
- Oír → yo oigo, tú oyes, él oye, nosotros oímos, ellos oyen
- Ir→ yo voy, tú vas, él va, nosotros vamos, ellos van
- Salir → yo salgo, tú sales, él sale, nosotros salimos, ellos salen
¡Practiquemos!
¡Hola! A continuación tienes algo para practicar. Debes lograr al menos 80% ¡Suerte!
This unit “Los verbos” was created by Alegría Ribadeneira by combining original material and sections about verbs from Spanish411.net, licensed CC BY-NC-SA and Spanish Grammar Manual by Enrique Yépez licensed CC BY-NC-SA.
