Spanish Learning Centre Blackpool

How can we tell if a Spanish word is a verb or not? Seems a strange question to ask but in English we are given a clue as to the answer because all verbs in English have to in front of them. This is not the case with the Spanish language. All verbs in Spanish are recognized by their endings which could be any one of three just to make this more difficult.

Each verb in Spanish comprises of two distinctive parts, the stem and the ending. The stem is often seen as the actual verb whilst many prefer to refer to the ending, which could either be, -ar, -er or -ir as the equivalent to the English to as it is often dropped, as is to when conjugated. It should be noted that Spanish verbs are often referred to as being part of a verb group and it is their specific ending that dictates which group they belong to.

Now that we have covered how to recognize a Spanish verb and be able to place it in a specific verb group we shall switch our attention to the formation of a verb.

Of the four main verb types in Spanish the simplest is the regular verb, the other types being irregular, reflexive and auxiliary. But it is regular verb formation that is most important as it is the foundation for all verb structures and as such should be embedded in ones memory before moving on to study more complex verbs.

Regular Spanish Verb Conjugation in the Present Tense

Compared to how English verbs are conjugated, Spanish verbs can seem, unsurprisingly, complex. In English the verb changes very little, often only adding an s or an es onto the end of the verb in the 3rd person singular, he speaks or she teaches for example. However, in Spanish there are different endings for each different person. Although this does sound daunting it does actually make it much clearer as to who or what is performing an action although there are times when ambiguity arises, although there are certain grammatical steps that eliminate this.

There is no simpler way to show how basic regular verbs are conjugated other than to provide examples and below you will find a verb from each of the three verb groups.

Andar - to walk

ando - I walk; andas- you walk (familiar); anda - he, she or it walks; anda - you walk (polite); andamos - we walk; andáis - you all walk (familiar); andan - they walk; andan - you all walk (polite)

Comprender - to understand

comprendo - I understand; comprendes- you understand (familiar); comprende- he, she or it understands; comprende- you understand (polite); comprendemos - we understand; comprendéis - you all understand (familiar); comprenden - they understand; comprenden - you all understand (polite)

Compartir - to share

comparto - I share; compartes - you share (familiar); comparte - he, she or it shares; comparte - you share (polite); compartimos - we share; compartís- you all share (familiar); comparten - they share; comparten - you all share (polite)

When you look more closely at these examples you will see that there are certain similarities that will make learning them a little easier:

1. All forms of the first person singular are formed in the same way, irrespective of the verb group, as they all end with o.

2. The -er and -ir verb groups are practically the same apart from the first and second person plural.

You may also like to take note of the difference between you familiar and you polite. Although, the polite version of you is not used as often as it once used to be, it is still used in certain situations such as when addressing strangers, important people, professional people such as doctors and teachers and elders. The familiar form is normally used at all other times.

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