Verb Conjugation: Present Tense

You already know a few verbs in the present tense for Spanish.

Necesito I needNecesitas You need.Necesita He needs.

Tengo I haveTienes You haveTiene He has

Quiero I wantQuieres You wantQuiere He wants

Verbs in Spanish are a little different from the verbs in English. Although they do much of the same thing, you are unaware of it in English. In Spanish, however, conjugation is very important.

First, Let’s review what a verb is.

According to Webster’s Dictionary, a verb is :

any member of a class of words that are formally distinguished in many languages, as in English by taking the past ending in -ed, that function as the main elements of predicates, that typically express action, state, or a relation between two things, and that (when inflected) may be inflected for tense, aspect, voice, mood, and to show agreement with their subject or object.

Let’s review the parts of a sentence, in particular locating the verb.

Subject verb noun

Subj. Verb noun

Now, let’s see those same sentences in Spanish. First, they will be in English as a reminder.

Subject verb noun

Subj. Verb noun

Subject verb noun

Subj. Verb noun

A verb represents the action of a sentence. It shows the reader what is happening and to whom it is happening. Verbs do the same thing in Spanish.

In English, whenever we want to clarify who is performing the action, we insert the subject. You, me, Paul, Jane, Mr. Johnson, we, you all, they, are all samples of subjects that we use.

In Spanish, however, it is not always neccesary to put the subject into the sentence, because the conjugation of the verb tells us who the subject is.

Every verb has six different combinations for each tense.DON´T LET THIS FREAK YOU OUT! IT IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK!

Let´s start with the basics.

Every verb has an infinitive. An infinitive is a verb that has not been conjugated.

Necesitar to need.

All infinitives end with –ar, -er, or –ir.

AR

NecesitarComprarEstudiarBuscarLimpiarLavar

ER

TenerQuererCorrerVolverLeer

Conocer

IR

VestirDormirSacudirSentir

PreferirIntroducir

to need to buy to study to look to clean to wash

to have to want to run to return to read to know

to dress to sleep to dust to feel to prefer to introduce

For now, we will stick with –ar verbs. They have very few irregular conjugations.

This is how you conjugate regular –ar verbs

Take the infinitive, and drop the –ar ending

This is the stem of the verb.

Then add the appropriate ending.

-AR Verb Endings

-AR Verb Endings

Many people will use a handy chart to remember these!

Yo Nosotros

Tú VosotrosÉl EllosElla EllasUsted Ustedes

-o -amos

-as -aís -a -an

Yo Compro Nosotros Compramos

Tú Compras Vosotros compraísÉl EllosElla Compra Ellas CompranUsted Ustedes

Now, with the verb comprar

Compro Compramos

Compras CompraísCompra Compran

Whew! That was a lot of information really quick!

Let´s do a quick review!

Remember when I said that the basicsof a language are important, becauseyou have to know those to build upto the next level? This is why.

Let´s review the different subjects real quick.

Yo

Tú

Él-Ella-Ud.

Nosotros

Vosotros

Ellos-Ellas-Uds.

I

You, informal. To your friends

He-She-You formal. To adults, people that you don´t know.

We

You all, informal. Only used in Spain.

They (group of boys), They (group of girls), You all formal.

Connect the subjects!!

Yo WeTú They-boysÉl You all InformalElla IUsted You informalNosotros You formalVosotros SheEllos You all formalEllas They girlsUstedes He

Let´s start putting this to actual use

Sacan ustedes una hoja de papel limpia.Take out a sheet of clean paper.

1. Using the directions above, find the verb.Usa los direcciones encima de aquí, escoger el verbo.

2. Change the sentence to say ´´I take out a clean sheet of paper.´´

3. Change the sentence to say ´´We take out a clean sheet of paper.´´

4. Change the sentence to say ´´You (familiar) take out a clean sheet of paper

5. Change the sentence to say ´´You (formal) take out a clean sheet of paper.

Corrigen sus papeles por favor!! Correct your papers please!!

1. Sacan – sacar – to take out

2. Yo saco una hoja de papel limpia.

3. Nosotros sacamos una hoja de papel limpia.

4. Tú sacas una hoja de papel limpia.

5. Usted saca una hoja de papel limpia.

Buen Trabajo!

Use the chart from before to conjugate the following verbs

Sacar Sentar

Comprar Lavar

Buscar Limpiar

Nadar Estudiar

Regalar Cortar

Ganar Cocinar

Necesitar Borrar

Escuchar Llevar

Mirar Graduar

Levantar Presentar

Sacar Sentar

Comprar Lavar

Buscar Limpiar

Nadar Estudiar

Regalar Cortar

Ganar Cocinar

Necesitar Borrar

Escuchar Llevar

Mirar Graduar

Levantar Presentar

Translations

To take out to sit

To buy to wash

to look for to clean

to swim to study to give a gift to cut

to win to cook

to need to erase

to listen to wear-carry

to watch to graduate

to lift to present

Mira! Lo que pasamos hoy y lo que aprenden hoy va a ser en el examen la semana que viene!

Es importante que practican esto mucho para aprenderlo mejor, y para entender el idioma más.

Todo los verbos que aprendemos hoy necesitan ustedes aprender de memoria para que puedan entender lo que les diré a ustedes y también para que puedan tomar más clases de español en el futuro.

Look! What we went over today and what you all learned today will be on a test next week!

It is important that you practice this a lot in order to understand it better, and in order to understand the langauge more.

All of the verbs that we learned today you all need to memorize in order to understand what I will be saying to you all and also so that you can take more Spanish classes in the future.

For Review.

ªAll of your subjects need to be memorized soon.ªLook over all of the new verbsªPractice, practice, practice! The more you practice the better you will be.ªDon´t be afraid to ask questions! The more you ask, the more I can respond to.

Para Repasar.

ªTodos las sujetas necesitan ser memorizada rápida.ªRepasan todos los verbos nuevos.ªPratique, Practique, Practique! La más que practiques la mejor será.ªNo se preocupes preguntarme! La más que me preguntas, la mejor que puedo responder a ustedes.

Do activities 4-7 on page ?? For tomorrow.

Prepare yourself to learn –er and –ir verbs, along with the irregular –ar verbs.

Please! Bring your book to class tomorrow, we will be using it.

Verb noun