Learning Spanish Verbs Will Help You Learn to Speak Spanish Fast and Easy

By Diana McGrew

Spanish is considered by many English speakers to be a hard language to learn. Part of this is because of the understanding on how to conjugate verbs. The concept of Spanish verb conjugation is the same as in English only the details are much more complicated. Verb conjugation refers to the process of changing a verb form to provide information about the action being performed. The form of the verb gives us some idea about who is performing the action, when the action is being performed, and the relation of the verb to other parts of the sentence. The present indicative tense is the verb form used the most and is what beginners first learn when they begin to speak Spanish. This form functions quite similarly to the present tense in English.

In order to conjugate a verb, you first need to identify the verb "stem." The stem is the part of the verb that, in most cases, remains constant. Find the stem by taking the infinitive of the verb and removing the -ar, -er, or -ir ending.

For verbs that end in ar: (e.g., hablar)

Yo (I): o - hablo

Tú (you, informal): as - hablas

Él, Ella, Usted (he or it; she or it; you, formal): a - habla

Nosotros (we): amos - hablamos

Vosotros (you, informal, plural): áis - habláis

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes (they, male; they female; you, plural): an - hablan

For verbs that end in er:(e.g., beber)

Yo (I): o - bebo

Tú (you, informal):es - bebes

Él, Ella, Usted (he or it; she or it; you, formal): e - bebe

Nosotros (we): emos - bebemos

Vosotros (You, informal, plural): éis - bebéis

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes (they, male; they, female; you, plural): en - beben

For verbs that end in ir: (e.g., escribir)

Yo (I): o - escribo

Tú (you, informal):es - escribes

Él, Ella, Usted (he or it; she or it; you, formal): e - escribe

Nosotros (we): imos - escribimos

Vosotros (You, informal, plural): ís - escribís

Ellos, Ellas, Ustedes (they, male; they, female; you, plural): en - escriben

One of the most important things for beginners to remember about the present tense is that English has more than one way to express something that is expressed in one Spanish verb form. Take a simple sentence such as ella habla. That sentence could be expressed in English using not only the simple present tense which means "she speaks," but it can also mean "she is speaking" or "she does speak." When you're translating a Spanish present-tense sentence into English, you need to use the context to tell you which English form to use. Thus "ahora ella canta" would usually be translated as "now she is singing," but "ella canta los lunes" would more likely be translated as "she sings on Mondays."

Context is the key to telling you which way a particular verb is being used. Remembering, for example, that trabajo can mean either "I work" or "I am working," you should have little difficulty in learning the uses of the present tense. There are many exceptions as you learn about irregular verbs and such but once you get these basics down you will be well on your way to understanding the Spanish language. One thing you must never do is give up! It may be very frustrating at first but as you learn and execute what you are learning by communicating with others it will become easier. Click here to learn more about how you can learn to speak Spanish fast and easy. Buena Suerte;-)