Spanish - Verbs
Infinitive
The basic form of a verb is called an infinitive.
- An infinitive is a verb that is not inflected, i.e. it does not change in form by inflection. (inflection = changes in the verb forms.)
- it is indeterminate and general, not referring to a particular person, number, tense.
- In English, infinitive = to + verb, e.g. to eat.
infinitive = stem + ending
Where ending could be:
-ar(like hablar)-er(like comer)-ir(like vivir)
conjugate: "give the different forms of (a verb in an inflected language) as they vary according to voice, mood, tense, number, and person."
Stem Changing
e to i
-ir verbs like servir, pedir, their e changes to i in most forms. The e does not change in the nosotros / nosotras form.
| servir | pedir | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | sirvo | pido |
| tú | sirves | pides |
| él / ella / usted | sirve | pide |
| nosotros / nosotras | servimos | pedimos |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | sirven | piden |
Other verbs:
- competir: to compete
- concebir: to conceive
- despedir: to fire
- impedir: to impede
- medir: to measure
- pedir: to ask for
- reñir: to scold, quarrel
- repetir: to repeat
- servir: to serve
- teñir: to color, dye, stain
- vestir: to dress
e to ie
The letter e in the stem changes to ie in all but the nosotros and vosotros forms. E.g. perder, querer.
| cerrar | entender | |
|---|---|---|
| yo | cierro | entiendo |
| tú | cierras | entiendes |
| él / ella / usted | cierra | entiende |
| nosotros / nosotras | cerramos | entendemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | cerráis | entendáis |
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cierran | entienden |
o to ue
the letter o in the stem changes to ue in all but the nosotros and vosotros forms. E.g. contar (tell),almorzar and poder.
| contar | almorzar | poder | |
|---|---|---|---|
| yo | cuento | almuerzo | puedo |
| tú | cuentas | almuerzas | puedes |
| él / ella / usted | cuenta | almuerza | puede |
| nosotros / nosotras | contamos | almorzamos | podemos |
| vosotros / vosotras | contáis | ||
| ellos / ellas / ustedes | cuentan | almuerzan | pueden |
a + Infinitive
Verbs like aprender, ayudar and empezar require a before the infinitive.
E.g.
- Empiezo a trabajar el lunes. (I am starting to work on Monday.)
negative
Say no before the verb.
me / te / se
Some Spanish verbs always need a me, te, se before them.
- me levanto
- se ducha
Tenses
- Tense = time. 3 groups of time: past, present, future.
- Mood
- indicative mood: making a statement or asking a question.
- conditional: would do / would have done something depending on something else.
- subjunctive moood: indicating a wish, a fear, etc. It is used in Spanish much more than in English.
- imperative mood: commanding someone to do something.
- infinitive mood
Simple tenses vs Compound tenses
- Simple tenses: one verb
- Compound tenses: two parts, the auxiliary verb + past participle. (have done something)
Spanish tenses vs English tenses
- In English:
- 3 simple tenses: Present, Past, Future
- 3 compound tenses: Present Perfect, Past Perfect, Future Perfect.
- In Spanish: 7 simple tenses + 7 compound tenses.
7 Simple Tenses
- presente de indicativo (present indicative, e.g. I eat.)
- imperfecto de indicativo (imperfect indicative, e.g. I was eating.)
- pretérito (preterit, e.g. I ate.)
- futuro (future, e.g. I will eat.)
- potencial simple (conditional, e.g. I would eat.)
- presente de subjuntivo (present subjunctive, e.g. ... that I may eat.)
- imperfecto de subjuntivo (imperfect or past subjunctive, e.g. ... that I might eat.)
7 Compound Tenses (haber + past participal)
- perfecto de indicativo (present perfect or past indefinite, e.g. I have eaten.)
- pluscuamperfecto de indicativo (pluperfect or past perfect indicative, e.g. I had eaten.)
- pretérito anterior (past anterior or preterit perfect, e.g. I had eaten.)
- futuro perfecto (future perfect or future anterior, e.g. I will have eaten.)
- potencial compuesto (conditional perfect, I would have eaten.)
- perfecto de subjuntivo (present perfect or past subjunctive, e.g. ... that I may have eaten.)
- pluscuamperfecto de subjuntivo (pluperfect or past perfect subjunctive, e.g. ... that I might have eaten.)
Progressive Tenses
Used only if an action is actually in progress.
- Progressive Present: estar in the present tense + present participle, e.g.
Estoy hablando. - Progressive Past: estar in the imperfect indicative + present participle, e.g.
Estaba hablando.
Reflexive
Most of verbs have both a refexive and a non-reflexive version, e.g. ir and irse.