Notes on Spanish verbs In Spanish we have 3 types of verbs AR or 1st -> NADAR = TO SWIM; CANTAR = TO SING; HABLAR = TO TALK Do you see what do they have in common? Exactly! The AR at the end ER or 2nd -> COMER = TO EAT; BEBER = TO DRINK; LEER = TO READ Do you see what do they have in common? Exactly! The ER at the end IR or 3rd -> VIVIR = TO LIVE; REIR = TO LAUGH; SUBIR = TO GO UP Do you see what do they have in common? Exactly! The IR at the end The Spanish verbs have declinations, that means that each person (I-yo, You-tú, He;she;it- El;Ella, Wenosotros;nosotras, You(ye)-vosotros; vosotras They – Ellos, Ellas) have a different ending. In English we need to say the person (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they) but in Spanish we don’t because we have an ending for each person (yo, tú, él, ella, nosotros/as, vosotros/as, ellos/as) The endings have a pattern – they repeat – if you are able to see the pattern you are in the right track to decipher Spanish Let’s see how you do! Look at the following verbs in Spanish: NADAR – HABLAR – CANTAR and try to find the pattern FOR THE VERB CANTAR Nadar NADO NADAS NADA NADAMOS NADÁIS NADAN Hablar HABLO HABLAS HABLA HABLAMOS HABLÁIS HABLAN Cantar CANT CANT CANT CANT CANT CANT Look at the following verbs in Spanish: COMER – BEBER - LEER and try to find the pattern FOR THE VERB CANTAR Comer COMO COMES COME COMEMOS COMÉIS COMEN Beber BEBO BEBES BEBE BEBEMOS BEBÉIS BEBEN Leer LE LE LE LE LE LE Look at the following verbs in Spanish: VIVIR – ABRIR - SUBIR and try to find the pattern FOR THE VERB CANTAR Vivir VIVO VIVES VIVE VIVIMOS VIVÍS VIVEN Abrir ABRO ABRES ABRE ABRIMOS ABRÍS ABREN Subir SUB SUB SUB SUB SUB SUB ¡Bien Hecho! Now you know how to use the different endings for the present tense in Spanish When we want to use the negative in Spanish we don’t need to add any other verb, we just say NO before the verb. Por ejemplo: I don’t sing – No canto When we want to ask and or express surprise we only need to add the or upside down question mark upside down exclamation mark ¡ Por ejemplo: Do you sing? - ¿Cantas? He sings very well - ¡Canta muy bien! ¿ or
