All English verbs in their infinitive form are preceded by the word"to": to speak, to work, to study, etc. All Spanish verbs in theirinfinitive form end either in -at, ~ or -it In this section we aregoing to deal with regular -at verbs.

The term conjugation, in grammatical study, refers to the changethe verb makes in order to accommodate the subject of the sen-tence. In English not a lot of conjugation goes on: I speak; youspeak," he speaks; she speaks; we speak; they speak. Only the third per-son, singular, makes the change in most English verbs (presenttense), taking on the letter "s."

When conjugating regular -arverbs, there are six different verb end-ings that correspond to the six boxes in the Subject Pronoun chart.

Shnple Sentence Construction

The minimum you need to create a sentence are a subject (some-one or something doing something) and a verb (that which isbeing done). The following recipe is all you need in order to cre-ate simple sentences in Spanish:

Subject Pronoun + Verb Base + Verb Ending

1. Subject pronouns are listed on the pre~ous page.

2. The verb base (or stem) is attained by stripping theinfinitive of its -at ending.

example: to sing = cantar: remove the -ar, and youhave cant, the verb base.

3. The ending is what you attach directly to the verb base.The six -at endings are fisted below and correspond tothe Subject Pronom~ chart.

5

Repase r~pido: usos del prese~le

The present tense in Spanish can be used to describe typical activities, thingsthat are ha, ppening as you speak, or actions in the immediate future.

Tenemos clase cinco d~as cada semana.~Vrancisco estudia espa~ol.

~sta tarde voy a la tienda.

We have class five days a week.Francisco is studying Spanish.This afternoon I am going tothe st~ore.

Spanish Verb Tenses

Regular -at Endings

yo o nOSOtFOS an*los

nosotYas alTIOS

t6 as vosotros hisvosotras his

61 a ellos anella a ellas anusted a ustedes an

Note: The abbreviation for usted is Ud., and for nstedes it is Uds. Both are commonly used inwriting and always are capitalized.

You are now ready to create simple sentences.

Following the recipe, Subject + Verb Base + Verb Ending, you first need to select a subject. Wewill use yo (I). Next, choose a verb. We will use hablar (to speak). Take off the -ar, and you havethe verb base, habb. Finally, select the ending that goes with your subject: As we are using yo,that ending must be o.

Subject + Verb Base + Verb Ending

yo habl o = yo hablo (I speak)

This is all you need to do in order to conjugate a verb and to create a simple sentence. Below isthe completely conjugated verb hablar:

yo hablo (I speak) noso~’os hablamos (we speak masc./masc. & fern.)

t6 hablas (you speak)

61 habla (he speaks)ella habla (she speaks)Ud. habla (you speak)

nosotras hablamos (we speak fem.)

vosotros habhlis (you all speak--masc./masc. &fem.)vosotras habhlls (you all speak fern.)

ellos hablan (they spe~masc./masc. &fem.)elias hablan (they speak--fern.)Uds. hablan (you all speak)

Listed below are several regular -at verbs. This list is followed by exercises in which you canpractice conjugating the verbs and creating simple sentences.

amar to love hablar to speak, talkandar to walk llegar to arrivebailar to dance llevar to wear, carrybuscar to look for, search for mlrar to watch, look atcantar to sing pagar to pay (for)comprar to buy practicar to practiceentrar (en) to enter (into) preparar to prepareescuchar to listen (to) tocar to touch, play (an instrument)esperar to hope, wait (for). tomar to takeestudiar to study trabajar to work

Note: Some Spanish verbs inherently contain prepositions that we must add to the Englishequivalent, e.g., escnchar (to listen to) : yo escucho la radio = I listen to the radio.

Traduce las siguientes /-rases:

1. [ sing.

2. You sing.

3. He sings.

4. We sing.

5. They (m.) sing.

6. lpay.

7. I pay for the house.

8. Yi, u pay.

9. They (f) pay.

I0. She studies.

ll. He studies.

12. I study.

13. We study.

14. You walk.

15. We walk.

16. I work.

17. He works.

18. They work.

19. We ~vork.

20. He dances.

Conjugation of Regular Verbs

21. I love.

22. You love.

23. She loves.

24. We love.

25. They love.

26. I practice.

27. He practices.

28. They enter.

29. I watch the house.

30. [ look at the garden.

3l. They watch the car.

32. She listens.

33. They (f) listen.

34. I listen.

35. He buys the car.

36. I buy the dog.

37. ~i)u buy the house.

38. [ speak with Miguel.

39. She pays for the books.

40. We study Spanish.

Conjugation of Re~dar Verbs

Regular -er Endings

yo o nosotros emosnosotras emos

tfl es vosotros 6isvosotras 6is

~l e ellos enella e elias enusted e ustedes en

Below is the conjugated verb comer (to eat):

yo como nosotros comemosnosotras comemos

vosotros com~isvosotras com6is

61 come ellos comenella come elias comenusted come ustedes comen

Listed below are several regular -o-verbs, followed by exercises which use them.

aprender to learn deber to owebeber to drink leer to readcomer to eat meter (en) to put (into)cometer (un error) to make (a mistake) poseer to possess, owncomprender to understand romper to breakcorrer to run temer to fear, dreadcreer to believe vender to sell

I-1-2

1. I learn.

2. I drink.

3. He drinks.

4. You eat.

5. We eat.

6. I understand.

7. I don’t understand.

8. They understand.

10 Spanish Verb Tenses

9. You understand.

~ 0. You don’t understand.

I 1. I run.

12. You run.

13. She runs.

14. They don’t run.

15. We run.

16. I believe.

17, I don’t believe.

I8. He believes.

19. We owe.

20. I read.

21. You read.

2. You don’t read.

23. He reads.

~4. She reads.

25. We read.

96. [ make a mistake.

27. I put.

28, You put.

99. He puts.

30. We put.

31. They (m,) put.

32. They (f) put.

33. We break.

34. Tbey (f) break.

35. [ break.

36. You sell.

37. We sell.

38. I don’t sell.

39. She doesn’t sell.

40. We learn.

goC~g~| es wea-da~|ero o ~also para ti?Note that when the subject is understood via the verb conju, gation, for exam[de, Co,no = I eat, the su!~/ect pronoun is~wt necessary.

1. Como mucho en McDonald’s.

2. Bebo leche carla d~a.

__ 3. No comprendo ~i-anc4s.

__ 4. Leo los libros de Agatha Christie.

5. Aprendo mucho en mi clase de espafiol.

6. Sears vende ropa.

7. La biblioteca vende libros.

8. Corro en el marat6n.

Conjugation of Regular Verbs

~ 9. Aveces (at times) cometo errores.

__ I0. Normalmente, el gato bebe leche.

11. Creo en fantasmas.

__12. Muchas personas en los Estados Unidos comprenden espafiol.

This is the final set of regular verbs. To conjugate regular & verbs, follow the same rules of con-jugation as set forth in Unit 1 (page 5). Note that the endings, which are listed below, are thesame as those for -er verbs except in the nosotros and vosotros boxes.

Regular 4r Endings

yo 0 nosotros imosnosotras imos

vosotros isvosotras is

61 e ellos enella e ellas enusted e ustedes en

Below is the conjugated verb vivir (to live) :

yo vivo nosotros vlvimosnosotras vivimos

tfi rives vosotros vivlsvosotras vivis

61 vive ellos vivenella vlve ellas rivenusted five ustedes riven

Listed below are several regular -it verbs, followed by exercises using them.

abrlr to open escrlbiradmifir to admit exJstiraslsfir (a) to attend permitircubrlr to cover reclbirdecidlr to decide suMrdescribir to describe sufrirdescubrir to discover tmirdiscutir to discuss vivir

to writeto existto permitto receiveto climb, go upto sufferto uniteto live

[2 Spanish Verb Tenses

1. Ir open the windows.

2, She suffers a lot.

3. We live in the United States.

4. ~,{)u write a lot of letters.

5. The child admits everything (todo).

{~. john climbs the staircase (la escalera).

7. I discover a cat ira the house.

8. Many people suffen

9. We decide.

10. Unicorns (los unicornios) don’t exist.

11. You (pl. fo.rm.) write well.

12. Mary describes the spiders (las ara~as).

13. We write many letters.

14. They don’t attend school.

15. Mary and John discuss the book.

16. "fi, u unite the two parts (laspartes).

17. The boys describe evewthing.

18. You (pl. fam.) cover the tables.

!9. John doesn’t attend the meeting (la r#uni6n).

20. I receive gifts (regalos) fbr my birthday.

l. Vivo en un apartamento.

2. Escribo mucho en mi clase de espm-aol.

3. Stephen King escribe libros de horror.

4. Recibo regalos en diciembre.

As you know by now, many verbs are irregular in Spanish. However,many of these irregular verbs fall into categories and you can recog-nize them by their infinitives. In this unit we will break them down.

Verbs ending with -cer preceded by a vowel: The followingverbs all end in -cer. On closer inspection, however, you will noticethat the -cer is preceded by a vowel. All such verbs are irreg~alaronly in the yo form, where a z precedes the c. All other conjugatedforms are regular in the present tense.

conocer (to know a person) parecer (to seem)

conozco conocemos parezeo parecemosconoces conoc~is pareces parec~isconoce conocen parece parecen

Below is a list of commonly used verbs in this category, along withtheir respective yo forms.

agradecer to be thankful yo agradezcoaparecer to appear yo aparezcoconocer to know a person yo conozcocrecer to grow y? crezcodesaparecer to disappear yo desaparezcoestablecer to establish yo establezcomerecer to deserve, merit yo merezconacer to be born yo nazcoobedecer to obey yo obedezcoofrecer to offer yo ofrezcoparecer to seem yo parezcopertenecer to belong yo pertenezcoplacer to please, gratify yo plazcoreconocer to recognize yo reconozcoyacer to lie down yo yazco

57,

58 Spanish Verb Tenses

1. Yo (conocer)

2. Yo (pertenecer) a un club.

3. "fi) no (reconocer) a nadie aquL

4. Yo (offecer) cien d61ares al ganador.

5. xa, (merecer) un aumento (raise).

6. Este programa me (parecer) absurdo.

7. Estos libros me (pertenecer)

8. Cada dia muchos beb6s (nacer)

9. Si un bebd no come bien, no (crecer)

10. A veces un fantasma (aparecer)

en el mundo.

bien.

en los suefios de los snpersticiosos.

Verbs ending with -ucir: Verbs that end with -ucir are similar to verbs ending with -cer in thata z is inserted in the yo ~brm. As with the preceding, -cerverbs, all other forms are regular.

producir (to produce) traducir (to tmr~slate)

produzco producimos traduzco traducimosproduces producfs traduces traducesproduce producen traduce traducen

¯ -erhs in this category=conducir to conduct, drive yo conduzcodeducir to deduce yo deduzcodeslucir to tarnish, spoil yo deshtzcoinducir to induce, persuade yo induzcointroducir to insert, introduce yo introduzcolucir to light up, display yo luzcoproducir to produce yo produzcoreducir to reduce yo reduzcotraducir to translate yo traduzco

Repaso r~pido: los yerbos que terminan e. -cer,Many verbs that end in -cer and -cir have irregular yo forms in the presenttense because the -c changes to -zc.

Paco conoce a la estudiante nueva pero yo no la conozco.Maria Fernanda pertenece al club de ecologla y yo tambi~n pertenezco.

~ Cambie las siguientes oraciones a la forma de yo para decir que Ud. tiene mucho encomtln con Diana.

Diana merece una buena nota.Yo merezco una buena nota tambi~n.

1. Diana conduce con cuidado.

2. Diana conoce a muchas personas.

3. Diana ofrece ayuda a sus amigos.

4. Diana reconoce los problemas.

Diana pertenece a un club.

Diana traduce las cartas.

Below are twelve commonly used irregular verbs, along with "theirconjugations. It is very important to know these verbs and how touse them. In this section, we will look at their most basic uses, aswell as special features of certain verbs.

dar (to give) poder (to be able to)doy das da puedo puedes puededamos dais dan podemos pod~is pueden

decir (to say, tell) poner (to put)digo dices dice pongo pones ponedecimos decls dicen ponemos pon~is ponen

hacer (to make, do) querer (to want)hago haces hace quiero quieres quierehacemos hac~is hacen queremos quer6is quieren

ir (to go) salir (to leave)voy vas va salgo sales salevamos VaiS van salimos salls salen

jugar (to play) venir (to come)juego juegas juegavengo vienes vienejugamos jugfiis jueganvenimos ven~s vienen

olr (to hear) ver (to see)oigo oyes oye veo ves Ve

oimos ois oyen vemos veis ven

36

\ Dozen llighly Useful h’regular Verbs

1. [ give.

2. 1 say.

3. They hear.

4. He hears.

5. "~bu make.

6. I play.

7, I make.

8. You (pl. jhm.) see.

9. We give.

10. She goes.

ll. They come.

12. He says.

13, You put.

14. I put.

15, We see.

16. I see.

17. They want.

18. You play.

19. I leave.

20. ~4~u say.

21. l hear.

22. lie wants.

23. I go.

24. They play.

t{esponde a estas p’r~g~ntas con ~i’ases completas:

1. ~Qu~ quieres para tu cumpleaflos?

2. Novmahnente, dd6nde pones m dinero?

3. T~picamente, {a qu~ hora vienes a la escuela?

[. Desde (j?om) la ventana de tu sala, ~qud yes?

5, ~Qn~ le das a tu mq]or amigo/a para su cumpleafms este a6o?

6, ~Qu~ dices cuando estfis enojado/a?

7. Mils o menos, {cu;mtas veces vas al cine cada afro?

8. Usualmente, {ad6nde vas despuds de las clases?

9. Generahnente, {a qu& hova sales de casa pov la maflana?

10. {Qu(, hates cuando alguien te dice nna mentira?

Verbos con formas irregulars en la primera persona

Rellena las frases siguientes con la forma correcta del verbo dado:

1. ¥O

2. Ella3. Yo4. Nosotros5. Yo le6. Elias me7. Yo8. TQ

tambi6n.9. Yo10.Ud,11 .Yo no12. Ella no13.Yo14. Nosotros15.Yo

companeros.16.17. Yo voy a18.Mis amigos me19.Yo

(caerse)en el hielo(caerse) tambi~n

(conocer) bien la ciuidad de M~xico.(conocer) bien Madrid.

(dar) mis notas a mi amiga.(dar)_sus notas.

.(hacer) toda mi tarea temprano.(hacer) toda tu tarea temprano

(poner) mi abrigo en el armario.(poner) su abrigo en el armario.

(saber) la respuesta.(saber) la respuesta.

(salir) alas ocho.(salir) alas ocho.(ofrecer) ayuda a mis

_(ofrecer) tt3 ayuda a tus comapaneros.(convencer) a mis amigos a jugar fQtbol

k(convencer) a jugar fQtbol.(traer) todo mi trabajo a la escuela.

20. Nosotrosescuela.

21.Yo22.EI23.Yo no

demasiado pequeno.24. Nosotros no

(traer) todo el trabajo a la

(parecer) a mi madre._(parecer) a su padre.

(caber) en este coche. Es

(caber) en este coche.

Verbos con cambios en la raiz y formas irregulars en la primera persona:

1. Yo sed,(tener)2. Ellas hambre (tener)3. Nosotros la verdad (decir)4. Yo una mentira. (decir)5. TO _(venir) temprano.

6. Yo no .(venir) en seguida,

7. Nosotros (tener) calor

8. Ellos .(decir) la palabra en espanol,

9, Yo (estar) bien.

10. ~C6mo (estar) t~?

Verbos con m~s de una forma irregular:

2.

3.4.

5,6,

7.

Vo

Nosotros

YoEIIos

ZDe d6ndeNosotrosElla

(ser)_mexicano.(it) a la playa.

.(olr)un ruido.(ver) television.

(eres) tO?_(oir) la radio.

.(it) al cine.

Date:

Present Tense of Verbs

136

III

Hori~ontaks

2. Elias3. Yo4. Nosotros5. TlX ~7. Usted

hermosas. (ser)ir a! cine. (querer)

. mucho dinero. (tenet)muy importante. (set)

cantar muybien. (poder)

9. T~ ~ cansado de~pu~s del partido. (estar)10. Nosotros en la escuela. (estar)13. 1~t ~ un regalo en la caja. (tener)15. Nosotros tomar Coca-Cola. (querer)16. Ellos en su casa. (estar)17. TO muchos discos. (tener)

Verticales1. Ellos2. Nosotros4. Ustedes5. E16. Yo8. Usted9. Yo

11. Yo --12. 1~1 --14. ELla15. Ustedes

hacer muchas cosas. (poder)inteligentes. (set)muchos libros. (tenet)

en el parque. (estar)guapo. (set)

un hombre simp~ttico. (set)un poco enfermo boy. (estar)un perro inteligente. (tener)compmr un regalo. (querer)bonita. (ser)

comprar una revista. (querer)

~98 TEAC © 1998 TEACHER’S DISCOVERY The Spanish Teacher’s Book of Lists

A verb is reflexive when the subject (the performer of the action)and the object (the receiver of that action) are the same.

For example, the verb in the sentence I see you is not reflexivebecause I (the subject/actor) and you (the object/receiver) arenot the same person. However, if I look in the mirror and seemyself, the verb is reflexive because I (the subject) and me (theobject) are the same person. Another way of looking at reflexiveverbs is to say that the action doesn’t go anywhere.

In English, the object of a reflexive verb is usually one of the fol-lowing: myself; yourself; himself; herself; itself; ourselves; them-selves. In Spanish, reflexive verbs require reflexive object, pro-nouns, which are employed in the same manner as direct andindirect object pronouns:

there is one verb in the clause, the object pronoun precedes theverb.

Me veo. I see myself.

If there are two verbs in the clause, the object either precedes the firstverb otis attached directly to the second verb. Either is acceptable.

Me quiero ver. or Quiero verme. I want to see myself.

Another important distinction is that in English, our use of the.reflexive pronoun is quite restricted and generally involves the fullbeing: I love myself, You know yourself, He hates himself, and so on.

In Spanish, however, this notion of being reflexive is far moreexpansive. As long as the action is going back to the actor, it isconsidered a reflexive verb. Thus, I wash my hair, You take a bath,and We brush our teeth are all examples of sentences that willrequire reflexive pronouns in Spanish.

These are the reflexive pronotms

me noste osse se

64

Reflexive Verbs

examples:

bafiarse (to take a bath) sentarse (to sit down)

me bafio nos bafiamos me siento nos sentamoste bafias os bafifiis te sientas os sentfiisse bafia se bafian se sienta se sientan

Note that sentarseis an e-* ie stem-changing verb. It means literally to "seat oneself."

A few things to know before worldng with reflexive verbs

1. Many reflexive verbs are stem-changing (these are noted in the list at the end of this unit),and you will conjugat~e them just as you learned in the previous units.

2. Many involve the mentioningof a body part or parts (e.g., cepillarse--to brush). Generallyspeal~ing, use the definite article rather than the possessive adjective before the body part(because of the reflexive pronoun, it is obvious whose body is being discussed) :

Me cepillo el pelo. I brush my hair.

¯Ella se cepilla los dientes. She brushes her teeth.

Te lavas el pelo. You wash your hair.

Nearly all verbs in the language can be either reflexive or non-reflexive: I can scratch myself(reflexive) or I can scratch my cat (non-reflexive). Thus, the list below is far from exhaustive.However, there are certain actions that usually are reflexive due to the nature of the action(bathing, shaving, brushing teeth, etc.). For the most part, these are the verbs you will findbelow.

One Unusual verb below is irse (to go away). This strays from the general description of thereflexive verb in that this is not a case where the subject an~ object are the same. Instead, thereflexive pronoun int¢nsifies the action. One other exception is comerse (to gobble up) whichdoes not mean "to eat oneself."

to go to bedacostaxse (o -~ ue)af~i, tarsebafiarsecasarse (con alg~alen)cepillarsedespertarse (e--* ie)desvestirse (e --~ i)dormirse (o --~ ue)ducharseenfermarseenojarseirselavarselevantarse

to shave oneselfto bathe oneselfto get married; to marry (someone)to brush oneselfto wake upto undress oneselfto fall asleepto take a showerto get sickto get angry, madto go awayto wash oneseffto sta~d up, getnp

mirarsepei~arseponerseponerse (la ropa)preocuparse (pot)probarse (o -~ ue)quitarse

sentarse (~-~ ie)sentlrse (e--~ ie)

vestirse (e-~ i)

to caii oneselfto look at oneselfto comb one’s hairto becom~to put on (clothing)to worry (about)to try on (clothing)to take off, remove (clothing)to dry oneselfto sit down, seat oneselfto feel (emotionally, physically)to see oneselfto get dressed

examples:

Me quito el sombrero.I take off my hat.

Te acuestas a las once. ~You go to bedat eleven o’clock.

Romeo se casa conJulieta.Romeo marries Juliet.

Nos vestimos en la mafiana,We get dressed in the morning.

Os llamfils grlgida y Pancho.Your names are grigida and Pancho.

Ellas se ponen nerviosas.They become/get nervous.

1-10-1

1. I go to bed.

2. Yon wash your hair.

3. He shaves every morning.

4. She shaves her legs.

5. You (ptfam.) wake up.

6. They sit down.

7. She goes away.

8. My name is Rex.

9. You take a shower.

10. We get dressed.

11. You (pl.fam.) fall asleep.

12. She takes a bath.

13. I worry about the future.

14. You (pl. form.) wake up.

19. I !:eel sick.

20. You comb your hair.

21. We brush our teeth.

22. She falls asleep.

23. Do you take a shower?

24. His name is Mardn.

Reitexive Verbs

15. I get undressed (desnudarse) at night.

16. Your name isAlida.

17. He takes offhis shirt.

18. You (pL form.) see yourselves in the mirror.

Spanish Verb Tenses

1-10-2

Every night Marta goes to bed at eleven-thirty. She falls asleep quickly and she never has night-mares. Every morning she wakes up at six-thirty, but she doesn’t get up until seven o’clock. Sheenters the bathroom where she brushes her teeth and looks at herself in the mirror. Some daysshe takes a bath, but usually she takes a shower because it’s faster and because Marta feelscleaner. After the shower (or bath), Marta combs her hair and dries her hair. She gets dressed,walks to the kitchen where she sits down, drinks coffee, and reads the newspaper for fifteenminutes. Then she goes (away) to work.

bathroomcleanfast(to) look at (oneselfmirror

e~’ bafio nightmare la pesadillalimpio quickly rfipidamenter~pldo shower la duchamirar(se) then entoncesel espejo work el trabajo

On a separate piece of pap~ describe your morning routine, using as many reflexive verbs as you can.

Reflexives--correct the following sentences:

1.Bafiarse: Ella se no bafiar

Ella solo bafia una vez a la semana

Q

Me bafia todas las noches.

~1 nunca se bafio

5. Yo siempre lavarme.

6.Acostarse: Ella se acuesta en la noche ylevanta en la noche

Ella se duerme en la noche--ACOSTARSE vs. DORMIRSE

8.Levantarse: Yo se levanto temprano

10.

11.

Yo siempre se levantar

Maquillarse: Yo me maquilla.

Lavarse: Ella se lava la ropa una vez ala semana.