Lesson 52 Notes

CoffeeBreakSpanish.com
In this edition:
completing our
discussion of
the present
tense
Lesson 52
Notes
¡Practiquemos los verbos!
Present tense verbs: review
Programme Notes
Coffee Break Spanish notes guide you through the content of each lesson. This lesson reviews
everything you need to know at this stage about the present tense, and introduces -er and -ir verbs.
Review of -ar verbs
We’ve already come across regular -ar verbs on a number of occasions. We’ll take this opportunity
to review the formation of these verbs to allow us to compare them against the -er and -ir verbs
we’ll come across later.
hablar - to speak
hablo
hablamos
hablas
habláis
habla
hablan
The other regular verb conjugations
In addition to -ar verbs, there are two other conjugations of regular verbs in Spanish, namely -er
and -ir verbs. Consider the following examples carefully:
comer - to eat
como
comemos
comes
coméis
come
comen
Note that the -e- of the infinitive comer results in the -e- used in comes, come, comemos, coméis and comen, just as
the -a- of hablar is reflected in habla, hablas, hablamos, habláis and hablan.
Other -er verbs include the following:
Examples of -er verbs
which are regular in the present tense
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 52
vender
to sell
beber
to drink
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comprender
to understand
creer
to believe
romper
to break
aprender
to learn
Note also the use of vender in the following contexts:
se vende esta casa
literally, “this house sells itself”
this house is for sale
se venden apartamentos
literally, “apartments sell themselves”
apartments are for sale / we sell apartments / you can buy apartments here
The final conjugation is -ir. Consider the example of vivir in the table below:
vivir - to live
vivo
vivimos
vives
vivís
vive
viven
Listed below are further examples of regular -ir verbs.
Examples of -ir verbs
which are regular in the present tense
abrir
to open
cubrir
to cover
decidir
to decide
escribir
to write
sufrir
to suffer
A review of radical changing verbs
Remember that radical-changing verbs change their vowel in parts 1, 2, 3 and 6. The common
changes are from -o- in the infinitive to -ue- in the conjugated verb, and -e- in the infinitive to -ie- in
the conjugated verb. You may also come across radical changes from -e- to -i- in examples such as
pedir. The three tables below give full conjugations for your information.
poder - to be able to
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 52
puedo
podemos
puedes
podéis
puede
pueden
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pensar - to think
pienso
pensamos
piensas
pensáis
piensa
piensan
pedir - to ask (for)
pido
pedimos
pides
pedís
pide
piden
Present tense reflexive verbs: review
Finally in this lesson, let us review a reflexive verb in its full conjugation. Remember that with a
reflexive verb, both the verb ending and the reflexive pronoun must agree with the subject. The
example which follows is a radical-changing -ir reflexive verb.
dormirse - to go to sleep
me duermo
nos dormimos
te duermes
os dormís
se duerme
se duermen
That’s really as much as you need to know about verbs in the present tense, including the irregular
verbs we’ve already covered, eg. ser, ir, etc. In the next lesson we’ll begin to look at events in the
past, so it’s important that you feel completely confident about the present tense before moving on.
Bonus podcast: answers
The bonus podcast for lesson 52 included a short test, using the additional -er and -ir verbs we listed
above. Here are the answers to the quiz:
1. abrimos la puerta - we open the door
2. sufren mucho - they suffer a lot
3. ¿me crees? - do you believe me?
4. beben un café - they drink a coffee
5. ¿vendéis la casa? - are you (informal, plural) selling the house?
6. María comprende el catalán - María understands Catalan
7. ¿come usted carne? - do you (singular, formal) eat meat?
8. escribimos una carta a nuestra madre - we write a letter to our mother
Coffee Break Spanish: Lesson 52
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