Language Exchange Community


anavarrete

Conjugación II: Regular verbs in the present tense

Posted 2007-09-19 08:54:46 | Comments (0)

Ok, my lovelies, you've had more than enough time to go crazy on the previous two entries to the point of having completely mastered the verbs Hacer, Ser and Estar in the present tense, right?

Well, now it's time to move on to something you'll find to be lots easier: regular verbs. 

Spanish language verbs can have three different endings: -AR (as in cocinar, to cook), -ER (as in comer, to eat), or -IR (as in abrir, to open).   Now, you'll see that regular verbs are fairly easy to conjugate, as the stem (the first part, or root) of the verb doesn't change: only the endings do.  Additionally, -ER and -IR verbs are conjugated in a very similar way: the only termination that changes is the NOSOTROS one.  You'll see this is a common pattern in the Spanish language. 

-AR verbs
Model verb: Caminar (To walk)

Yo
camino

caminas
Él
camina
Nosotros
caminamos
Ustedes
caminan
Ellos
caminan

Notice what happens: You take the name of the verb (caminar), you remove the -AR ending from it (caminar), and add the termiation provided in the red letters (tú caminas). 
This works for all regular -AR verbs.

Some examples of regular -AR verbs are hablar (to talk or speak), entrar (to enter, to go in), llamar (to call), tomar (to take, to drink), lavar (to wash). More examples in a flashcard set to follow.

-ER and -IR verbs
Model verb I: Leer (To read)
Yo
leo

lees
Él
lee
Nosotros
leemos
Ustedes
leen
Ellos
leen

Model verb II: Escribir (To write)
Yo
escribo

escribes
Él
escribe
Nosotros
escribimos
Ustedes
escriben
Ellos
escriben

Notice the difference: Nosotros leemos --> Nosotros escribimos.
Other than the different terminations, the -ER and -IR verbs work just the same way as the -AR verbs: You take the name of the verb (leer), you remove the -ER or -IR ending from it (leer), and add the termiation provided in the red letters (tú lees). 
This works for all regular -ER and -IR verbs.

Some examples of regular -ER and -IR verbs are responder (to answer), beber (to drink), recibir (to receive), vivir (to live). Stay tuned for more examples and exercises.

This is as far as we'll go today.  If you have any questions or would like to practice at all, don't hesitate to comment or contact me :D

infinitivo - the name of a verb, ending in -AR, -ER, or -IR
delicious | digg | reddit | technorati

Sponsor