Introduction to Spanish verbs
Beginner's Spanish verbs tutorial.
This is a beginner's guide to explain the very basics about Spanish verbs. You will learn how Spanish verbs are formed and some basic information about them.
Components of a Spanish verb
Spanish has an inflexional verb system which means that each verb has a root or stem followed by an inflexion. The root tells you which verb you are using and the inflection tells you the tense (time) and which person you are refering to. The sooner you learn the most common inflections the better.
| ROOT | INFLEXION | TRANSLATION |
| trabaj | aré | I will work |
| viv | ir | to live |
| bail | aba | I danced |
| habl | aste | you spoke |
-AR, -IR and -ER VERBS
There are three types of verb in Spanish. -AR, -IR and -ER. There is no difference in meaning between them. Around 72% of Spanish verbs are AR verbs and -IR and -ER have 14% each. In a Spanish verb the infinitive is the stem of the verb + -AR, -IR or -ER. The infinitive is the basic "to" form of the verb
| INFINITIVO | INFINITIVE |
| trabajar | to work |
| vivir | to live |
| beber | to drink |
REGULAR verbs
Around 60% of Spanish verbs are regular verbs and 40% are irregular.
To learn Spanish it is essential to learn the most common conjugations for irregular verbs.
| LINKS TO CONJUGATION OF REGULAR VERBS | ||
| IR VERBS | AR VERBS | ER VERBS |
| vivir | hablar | comer |
IRREGULAR verbs
Learning irregular verbs is a difficult part of learning any language. The most important Spanish verbs are SER and ESTAR which both mean "to be", it is difficult to say much without knowing Ser and Estar.
One of the most difficult things about learning Spanish is understanding Ser and Estar. We have a tutorialhere.
Some of the most common Spanish verbs are irregular. We have a list of themost popular verbs , you can see that most of them are irregular.
WHERE IS THE SUBJECT?
In English we usually use a subject and an object and they are separate words. For example "I drink". In Spanish the subject is contained in the verb conjugation. "I drink" = "bebo".
Spanish does have a set of subject pronouns "yo, tu, el , ella" etc. but they are only used for emphasis and can be omitted.
Spanish | English |
| yo vivo en Madrid | I live in Madrid |
| tu hablaste con Pedro | You spoke to Pedro | el irá al supermercado | He will go to the supermarket |
| ella tenia gripe | She had flu | nosotros vendremos más tarde | We will come later |
| vosotros tenéis muchos libros | You have a lot of books | ellos ¡dieron la vida por ti! | They gave their life for you. |
| ellas pagaron en efectivo | They paid in cash |
FORMING THE NEGATIVE
This is very easy. Just put a "no" before the verb.
Spanish | English |
| no vivo en Madrid | I don't live in Madrid |
| no hablaste con Pedro | You didn't spoke to Pedro |
| no irá al supermercado | He wont go to the supermarket |
| no tenía gripe | She didn't have flu |
MAKING QUESTIONS
This is very also easy. The word order for a question is the same as an affirmative statement. We put an inverted question mark at the start.
| SPANISH | ENGLISH |
| ¿vives en Madrid? | Do you live in Madrid? |
| ¿hablaste con Pedro? | Did you speak to Pedro? |
| ¿irá al supermercado? | Will he go to the supermarket? |
| ¿tenía gripe? | Did she have flu? |
FUTHER STUDY
We have a list of the top 100 verbshere.