Present Tense

Every verb in Spanish ends in one of three ways: -ar, -er, and –ir.  Here are some examples.

-AR                                         -ER                                          -IR                  

Gustar = to please                   Comer = to eat                        Dormir = to sleep       

Ayudar = to help                     Beber = to drink                      Corregir = to correct              

Pensar = to think                     Poder = to be able to               Decir = to say/to tell

Each of these endings conjugate in a certain way.  In English conjugating is usually pretty easy.  I eat, she eats, they eat, you eat, etc.  In Spanish there’s a little more to it, but once you get down the pattern you can conjugate almost any verb (except the irregulars that we’ll discuss in a second).

Get to know this conjugating tree:

                                                                        I                         We              

Yo           Nosotros                                         You (familiar,     You (familiar,

Tú            Vosotros                                          singular)              plural)                             

Usted,      Ustedes,                                          You, (formal,         You (formal,
Él,            Ellos                                                singular)                plural)

Ella          Ellas                                                 He                       Them (masculine)

                                                                       She                      Them (feminine)                                                    

These are the subject pronouns of Spanish and English (by the way, there are object pronouns as well, but we’ll go over that in a later post).  Yo=I, nostotros=we, ella=she, él=he, and then we have some confusing things with you.  In Spanish, and many other Latin-based languages, you can be familiar or formal, and singular or plural. 

When you’re talking to one person you know very well or someone who is younger than you, use the familiar, singular form of you, which is tú.  This is appropriate for family members, friends, peers you have gotten to know, and children.  If you’re speaking to a group of these familiar people, use vosotros.  It’s the Spanish equivalent of ya’ll, really.  However, vosotros is almost exclusively used only in Spain, and Latin-American countries use ustedes instead.

When you’re talking to one person you don’t know well or who is older than you, use the formal, singular form of you, which is usted.  This is appropriate for strangers, peers you haven’t gotten to know yet, people you want to show respect to, and elderly people who aren’t family (note that every family is different, and some families only talk to each other in tú, but others may use usted to speak to older members of the family.  It’s just a matter of preference).  If you’re speaking to a group of unfamiliar people, use ustedes.  Also, as discussed above, in Latin-American countries ustedes is also used to talk to many people even if they are familiar.  So, if you were talking with a group of children you would use ustedes, just like you would with a group of older people.

Now, back to the tree.  This tree makes a pattern that you’ll use again and again in every tense.  In the present tense, verbs that end in -AR, -ER, and –IR will conjugate and end like this:

-AR                                                   -ER                                                -IR

    -o           -amos                                   -o           -emos                            -o            -imos

    -as          -áis                                      -es          -éis                                -es           -ís    

    -a           -an                                       -e           -en                                 -e            -en

I’m betting you could use some examples of how what on earth I’m talking about.  Let’s look at some –AR endings first.

     Echar (to throw)                           trabajar (to work)                      aceptar (to accept)

    echo       echamos                       trabajo     trabajamos                  acepto    aceptamos

    echas     echáis                            trabajas     trabajáis                    aceptas   aceptáis   

    echa      echan                             trabaja      trabajas                      acepta    aceptan

So, when you conjugate a verb that ends in –AR in Spanish, you drop the –ar and add the appropriate ending.  I throw = echo, we throw = echamos, all of you (formal) throw = ustedes echan.  And the nice thing in Spanish is that we often don’t have to explicitly say the pronoun.  If I say, “Yo trabajo,” I could just as well take off the yo and just say, “Trabajo,” because you know by the way I conjugate the verb that I’m talking about myself.  If I say, “Acepta,” it can be more confusing because in that form it could mean, “She accepts,” “He accepts,” or “You (formal) accept.”  In cases like that where we aren’t sure who the subject is we might use the pronoun: “Ella acepta, él acepta, usted acepta.”  However, if you can infer who the pronoun is based on context you won’t even have to specify if it’s she, he, or you (formal).

Now, how about some –ER verbs!

   Creer (to believe)                         beber (to drink)                       comer (to eat)

   Creo       creemos                       bebo      bebemos                   como    comemos

   Crees      creéis                           bebes     bebéis                      comes   coméis   

   Cree        creen                           bebe       beben                       come     comen

It’s the same idea here.  To conjugate a verb that ends in –ER, drop the –er and add the appropriate ending.  You (familiar) believe = crees, we drink = bebemos, he eats = él come.  Cool?  Next up, -IR verbs.

    Decidir (to decide)                       cubrir (to cover)                         vivir (to live)

   Decido      decidimos                    cubro     cubrimos                     vivo    vivimos

   Decides     decidís                        cubres    cubrís                         vives   vivís    

   Decide       deciden                      cubre     cubren                         vive    viven

Again, drop the –ir and add the appropriate ending.  I decide = decido, ya’ll cover = cubrís, they live = viven.  Notice that verbs that end in –ER and –IR conjugate in a very similar way.  –IR verbs conjugate just like –ER verbs except when conjugating for nosotros (we) and vosotros (familiar, plural you).  That’s actually going to be important with other tenses we learn.

So, now you know how to conjugate every verb in Spanish, right?  Well, not quite.  It turns out there are some exceptions to the rules.  We call them irregular verbs.  English has lots of irregularities, and you know how to speak that, so you shouldn’t complain.

In English, we have this verb “to be.”  We conjugate it like this: I am, you are, he is.  None of those sound anything like the root “be.”  That would be an irregular verb.  Spanish has some irregulars that are just a little off, irregulars that are stem changers, and irregulars that are so off you wouldn’t even think they came from the same root.  Unfortunately there aren’t any rules to tell if a verb will be irregular or not.  You really just have to memorize them.  Here are a few examples.

        Ir (to go)             ser (to be)                    estar (to be)                 seguir (to follow)

   Voy     vamos          soy        somos             estoy      estamos            sigo      seguimos

   Vas      vais             eres         sois                estás      estáis                sigues    segís     

   Va        van             es            son                 está        están                sigue    siguen

    Tener (to have)     sentir (to feel/regret)       dormir (to sleep)         hacer (to do/make)

   Tengo    tenemos      siento    sentimos        duermo    dormimos        hago    hacemos

   Tienes   tenéis          sientes    sentís            duermes   dormís            haces    hacéis   

   Tiene     tienen         siente     sienten           duerme     duermen         hace     hacen

    Elegir (to choose)          querer (to want)            decir (to say, to tell)         dar (to give)

     Elijo     elegimos         quieros   queremos            digo    decimos            doy     damos

     Eliges   elegís             quieres    queréis               dices   decís                 das      dáis   

     Elige    eligen              quiere    quieren                 dice     dicen                da        dan

While there isn’t really a good way to predict whether or not a verb will be irregular, there are some patterns.  Next time we’ll talk about stem changers.

Homework for this week: the following verbs are regular.  Draw up a verb tree for each.

1. Asistir (to attend)
2. Gritar (to shout)
3. Expresar (to express)
4. Insistir (to insist)
5. Hablar (to speak)
6. Necesitar (to need)
7. Leer (to read)
8. Extrañar (to miss)
9. Sacar (to take out)
10. Responder (to respond)