Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

It should come as little surprise to you that practice makes perfect when it comes to learning Spanish verb conjugation. However, it can become very tiresome going over each verb conjugation time and time again and this is the reason why so many students decide to call it a day trying to learn Spanish beyond a basic level.

Unfortunately, there has been no other way to master Spanish verbs apart from this way of doing so, as has been the case since people started to learn Spanish…that is until the development and introduction of verb training software programs. The best of these programs is called the Verbarrator and is well worth checking out.

You can do so by clicking on the following link which will take you to a review I’ve written about the program which also contains a video of the program actually being used and a detailed description of the program itself, here’s the link…http://www.irregularspanishverbs.com/verbarratorreview.html …and yes…I do actually have a copy and wouldn’t part with it if you paid me!

]]> http://www.irregularspanishverbs.com/blog/995/spanish-verb-conjugation-practice/feed/ 0 http://www.irregularspanishverbs.com/blog/630/spanish-verb-conjugation-chart/ http://www.irregularspanishverbs.com/blog/630/spanish-verb-conjugation-chart/#comments Sun, 07 Nov 2010 22:20:04 +0000 admin http://www.irregularspanishverbs.com/blog/?p=630 Spanish Verb Conjugation Chart

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

Spanish Verb Conjugation Chart

When studying Spanish verb conjugation a chart highlighting the various endings for each specific tense is an invaluable aid. There are many Spanish verb conjugation charts online, most of which are not available to print, which, in my opinion, is a complete waste of time as I realized when I was studying verb formation. So, what I would like to provide you with, completely FREE by the way, is a completely printable Spanish verb conjugation chart in pdf format.

Please feel free to print off as many copies as you wish, hand them out to your classmates or, anyone else you feel would benefit from them.

If you are a teacher use them freely to hand out to your students and why not take advantage of the printable conjugation sheets of some of the most common irregular Spanish verbs on the main site, accessed using the link at the top of this page.

If you find this Spanish verb Conjugation Chart of use please bookmark this page/site so you will find it much more easily in the future, and please feel free to add a comment!

Here’s the link: http://www.irregularspanishverbs.com/SpanishVerbConjugationChart.pdf

Hasta luego

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

The best Spanish verb app?…A week ago I couldn’t have told you but if you are one of those, ‘up with the times’ kind of people, unlike myself, then you are probably into apps in a big way! So it is not surprising to find that there are a number of Spanish verb apps currently available. I will not even attempt to try and sound like an expert on apps as I would probably sound a bit foolish, but I will call upon an expert in apps that I know…my nephew!

I have been asked on many occasions if I know of the best Spanish verb app and I have to confess that in order to provide an acceptable answer I had to consult with my hi-tech nephew for an informed response. He provided me with a shortlist which I checked out but there was one thing that I would like to stress before going any further…if you want the best tool for learning Spanish verbs there is absolutely no comparison between any of the apps my nephew showed me and the ‘verbarrator‘ verb training software which you can check out a review of by clicking on the link.

But if it is the best Spanish verb app you are after then you wouldn’t go far wrong by downloading the FREE app Spanish Verbs Ultimate, it does have a few minor mistakes that are currently being corrected and the app is also being actively updated regularly.

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

Spanish Verb Conjugator

A Spanish verb conjugator should be high up on the list of training tools a student requires when they start to learn Spanish, in fact many consider it to be the ONE tool that they couldn’t do without! Why? It is simply because the modern Spanish verb conjugator has not only made learning difficult verb conjugations much easier and quicker to do but, more importantly, has improved the success rates for students completing Spanish courses.

Learning Spanish verb conjugation has always been a major stumbling block for a lot of individuals who harbour dreams of speaking Spanish fluently, so much so that many of them fail to complete their studies…modern day verb trainers, or conjugators, can definitely help with this problem.

The Spanish Verb Conjugator Trainer – The Nemesis of Irregular Spanish Verb Conjugation

All students of the Spanish language will recognize that learning, indeed the complete mastery of, the conjugations of irregular Spanish verbs is probably the single most difficult area of their studies yet it was an area of language study that was pretty much left unimproved for years. For many years the only way to learn the dreaded Spanish verb conjugations was to use the good old fashioned and trusted verb conjugation book; with the help of these books and endless hours of memorization and repetition Spanish verb conjugation was indeed mastered…eventually!

Unfortunately, the endless hours of learning when using the verb tables in these books was never the most enjoyable task to undertake and it doesn’t take long before the tedium of this type of studying produces casualties in the form of students giving up on any hope they once had of being able to speak Spanish confidently.

Although Spanish verb conjugation books are still a required tool in the bag of all students, they are no longer considered to be the best way to learn Spanish verb conjugation and are better suited for use as a resource tool. The modern online Spanish verb conjugator is an absolute ‘must have‘ for students nowadays as it can slash the time it previously took to learn Spanish verbs and make the task of learning them considerably more enjoyable.

Forget the many free conjugators that you will find online, they are little more than computerized versions of those books I have previously mentioned, what is required to achieve excellent results is a high quality, state-of-the-art, Spanish verb conjugator training program and if you are truly serious about getting the best results you can possibly achieve then you have got to consider purchasing the Verbarrator Spanish verb trainer.

I personally own a copy of this software program and have provided an honest review of it on my main site that you can read here, VERBARRATOR REVIEW, it gives a detailed account of the program, what it contains, it’s history and development.

I do not hide the fact that I promote and fully endorse the Verbarrator verb trainer and I can also tell you that you can buy it directly from the developers and elsewhere online…what I will offer though to anyone who does wisely decide that the Verbarrator is a tool they definitely need to complete their Spanish studies successfully is a copy of each of my Spanish verb conjugation books: ‘2000+ Spanish Irregular Verbs 2nd Edition‘ and ’50 Most Commonly Used Regular Spanish Verbs’, whenever a purchase is made through any of the links found on my site, including those within the banners above and below this post.

For more information about Spanish verbs why not visit my previous blogposts; El verbo gustar and Ver conjugation

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

Spanish Verb Tenses Explained

Spanish verb conjugation is often referred to as the most difficult aspect of learning Spanish as conjugation can be very complex and highly irregular in some cases. What often gets overlooked are the Spanish verb tensesthemselves which is surprising as it is very important to understand when a tense is used, how it is used and when it is used.

Many students who have attacked the conjugation of Spanish verbs have done so without fully knowing about the various Spanish verb tenses they are conjugating in, this in itself, will not affect their ability to master verb conjugation but it does affect how they use their new skill. Hopefully the short glossary below will help to provide some necessary information about Spanish verb tenses:

Compound:
Compound tenses are the group of tenses that consist of more than one element. In the Spanish language, compound tenses are formed by using the auxiliary verb and the past participle, for example: ha contestado which means, ‘he has answered‘.

Past Participle:
The past participle is the form of a verb that indicates a past or completed action or time and is used after the auxiliary verb ‘to have‘ in English and ‘haber‘ in Spanish, for example: abierto - ‘opened‘ in he abierto – ‘I have opened‘

Subjunctive:
The subjunctive is not a tense, as many students believe, but a mood. Although it exists in English it goes almost unoticed as it almost always takes the same form as the indicative. However, in Spanish, it is widely used when expressing doubt, how a person feels about a possibe action, feelings, and a wish,ntent or command for a possible action.

Indicative:
As with the subjunctive the indicative is a mood. It is the most widely used mood and is used in ordinary, typical speech when making statements as in hablo - ‘I speak‘,  ha venido – ‘he has come‘, estoy probando – ‘I am trying‘

Present:
The present tense is where pretty much every student begins and for good reason, it is the most commonly used tense and is used to express an action that is currently being undertaken. hablo ‘I speak‘ or, ‘I am speaking‘

Imperfect:
One of two simple past tenses in Spanish. The imperative is used to express a past action that has not been completed, that occured frequently or that took place over an indefinite period of time eg. decía - ‘I was saying‘

Preterite:
The other simple past tense used to  express an action in the past which has been completed or occured over a definite period of time, eg; dije – ‘I said‘

Perfect:
Another past tense used to describe a completed past action. It comprises the auxiliary verb haber and the past participle, eg he visto – ‘I have seen‘

Pluperfect:
A past tense used to describe an action occurring in the past before another past action and is formed using the imperfect of haber and the past participle: había ido antes de que llegué – ‘he had gone before I arrived‘

Future:
One of the simpler tenses to understand, the future refers to an action that hasn’t happened yet but is expected: abriré mañana -  ‘I will open tomorrow‘

Present Participle or ‘Gerund’:
Not used too much apart from when attached to the verb estar - ‘to be‘ in the present continuous tense. It is the equivalent of the English verb form that ends in -ing for example; escribiendo ‘writing‘.

Present Continuous:
This tense is only used to describe actions that are actually taking place at the time of use, and is formed by using the present tense of the verb estar and the present participle: estoy escribiendo ‘I am writing‘

Conditional:
The conditional tense does not refer to a particular period of time unlike the past, present and future tenses but instead it is used, as it’s name suggests, when a condition is involved but in Spanish it is often linked to the future tense hence why it is known both as el condicional and el futuro hipotético (the hypothetical future).

In English the conditional would be formed by using the auxiliary verb would…for example: ‘I would wash if I were dirty‘, but in Spanish it is rendered by a single verb form, eg; cerraría ‘I would close‘

Imperative:
The imperative is a tense that is used when giving orders or suggestions..¡Escribe! - Write!

That should help you for the time being, however, should you need further information about any of the tenses above use the search facility at the top of this page and I am sure there will be a post on this blog somewhere that will be more than helpful.

However, if you are struggling with Spanish verb conjugation may I suggest checking out my verbarrator review. It’s a fantastic verb training program as my review explains and should you decide that it’s just what you need I’ll throw in my verb conjugation book called ‘2000+Spanish Irregular verbs‘ selling for $16 for FREE!

If you would like to read another post why not check out my previous post entitled 1001 Spanish Verbs it’s not quite as straightforward as it sounds!

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

How to Conjugate Spanish Verbs

It is important to fully understand exactly what a verb is and what it used for before moving on to learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs, so here is a brief explanation for those who require some clarity.

Verbs are probably the most important part of any sentence as they describe either an action, a state or an occurrence.

• Most commonly used as an action word, a verb will describe something that is being done, for example, I sing or they talk.
• Here are a couple of examples when a verb is used to express a state of being: My name is David, I am English.
• Finally, an occurrence or something that is happening: The rain bounced off the ground or the snow glistened.

So now we have covered, in the most basic of explanations, what a verb is we should turn our attention to understanding exactly what is meant by conjugation.

What is Conjugation?

Conjugation is when a verb changes its form to indicate when and by whom an action is undertaken. In English, verb conjugation is not as severe as in other languages, namely Spanish, and verb conjugation is not as much of an issue. There are exceptions, of course, like the verb ‘to be’; I am, you are, he is etc. but verbs are generally much easier to learn in English.

In Spanish, verbs have many different conjugations and each one indicates who performs the action and the tense (when it was performed!) and we will now take a look at how the simplest groups of verbs are conjugated.

Spanish Regular Verbs

In Spanish, the infinitive of a verb is a single word unlike in English where it is composed of two; the infinitive ‘to have‘ is ‘tener’ in Spanish.

However, the Spanish verb does break down into two parts called the stem and the ending. Let me explain. There are three groups of verbs in Spanish, these groups are called the ar,er and ir verb groups, they are so called because every Spanish verb ends in either ar, er or ir. These endings are preceded by, what is known as, the stem, which is basically the verb with the ending being the equivalent of the English ‘to‘.

In the majority of tenses, the ending is replaced, and the new ending will indicate who is performing an action and when it happens; these changes to the verb are collectively called conjugation.

Spanish has a high number of irregular verbs that are hard to learn because they have very difficult conjugations, often changing, not only the endings but, the stem as well. In order to to give yourself the best chance of learning these irregular verbs it is vitally important to know basic conjugation as used when working with regular verbs.

Here is an example of a regular verb from each of the three verb groups as conjugated in the present tense.

Bailar (to dance) a regular -ar verb

Singular

• bail-o I dance
• bail-as you dance
• bail-a he, she dances
• bail-a you dance (polite)

Plural

• bail-amos we dance
• bail-áis you dance
• bail-an they dance
• bail-an you dance (polite)

Vivir (to live) a regular -ir verb

Singular

• viv-o I live
• viv-es you live
• viv-e he, she lives
• viv-e you live (polite)

Plural

• viv-imos we live
• viv-ís you live
• viv-en they live
• viv-en you live (polite)

Comer (to eat) a regular -er verb

Singular

• com-o I eat
• com-es you eat
• com-e he, she eats
• com-e you eat (polite)

Plural

• com-emos we eat
• com-éis you eat
• com-en they eat
• com-en you eat (polite)

There are a number of similarities that you will notice here.

• Firstly, all first person singular conjugations end with ‘o’, irrespective of which verb group.
• Secondly, er and ir verb groups have the same endings apart from the 1st and 2nd person plural, we and you. This similarity between the ir and er verbs is consistent through many of the different tenses and does make conjugating them a little easier!

Unfortunately, the explanation above is just the first step down the road of mastering Spanish verb conjugation, there are many more tenses that need to be learnt and there are also, as mentioned, many irregular verbs too but the above is the foundation on which your verb studies will be based.

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If you are a little more advanced in your studies why not have a read of my previous post that covers the Spanish Past Tense. If you are finding mastering verbs and verb conjugation too difficult or would like help learning them then check out my Verbarrator Review. It’s a fantastic learning tool for quickly getting to grips with Spanish verbs and it is the only Spanish software program that I still use frequently!

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

You’ve just got to check this out!

You’ve Just Got To Go To This Teacher’s School And Take Spanish Class!

Click Here to learn how to conjugate irregular Spanish verbs quickly and with ease

Spanish verb conjugation is an extremely important part of learning Spanish, unfortunately it is also one of the most difficult aspects of studying the language and as such is disliked by most students. However, if the objective of the student is to become fluent then Spanish verb conjugation is one aspect of the Spanish language that requires the student to have a complete mastery of.

The difficulties of learning Spanish are appreciated by many who have attempted to or, who have succeeded in learning the language and there is no aspect more demanding than that of learning Spanish verb conjugation. Most students will gain a certain level of competence whether it is reaching a level good enough to order a meal at a restaurant or be able to hold down a good conversation but the overriding factor in deciding which level of competence is achieved is the level of expertise attained in verb use. A mastery of Spanish verb conjugation will open the floodgates of Spanish fluency and for those wishing to become fluent, it is a no brainer.

We should all know what verbs are and what they are used for (that is, if we were paying any attention in school!) and that they are a vital part of sentence structure as they indicate an action performed by the subject. Without a verb sentences would make very little sense. In English we have it pretty easy where verbs are concerned, they seldom indicate the doer of an action, a service provided by the subject pronoun (I, he, she, you etc) and because of this they change little other than when an s or es is added onto the end of the verb in the 3^rd person singular (he or she). This is where Spanish is very different as subject pronouns are rarely used, other than to avoid ambiguity, as the verb changes to indicate, not only when an action takes place (tense) but also the doer of the action.

Basic Structure of a Spanish Verb

In English, a verb is easy to recognize because all English verbs are preceded by ‘to’ as shown earlier in this sentence (to recognize), this combination of ‘to’and the verb is called the infinitive. The Spanish language does not use an obvious ‘to’instead is recognized by its ending that can be one of either ar, er or, ir. These endings, although joined to what is called the stem of the verb are often said to be the equivalent of the English ‘to’. These endings are important as they are used to group Spanish verbs into three specific groups called, imaginably, the -ar, -er and -ir verb groups. Each group follows a set of specific rules for conjugation as highlighted here.

Present tense conjugation of hablar: regular -ar verb meaning to speak

• yo hablo – I speak
• tú hablas – you speak
• él, ella habla – he, she, it or speaks
• usted habla – you (polite) speak
• nosotros/as hablamos – we speak
• vosotros/as hablaís – you (all) speak
• ellos, ellas hablan – they speak
• ustedes hablan – you (all) speak (polite)

• yo como – I eat
• tú comes – you eat
• él, ella come – he, she, it or eats
• usted come – you (polite) eat
• nosotros/as comemos – we eat
• vosotros/as comeís – you (all) eat
• ellos, ellas comen – they eat
• ustedes comen – you (all) eat(polite)

Present tense conjugation of vivir: regular -ir verb meaning to live

• yo vivo – I eat
• tú vives – you eat
• él, ella vive – he, she, it or eats
• usted vive – you (polite) eat
• nosotros/as vivimos – we eat
• vosotros/as vivís – you (all) eat
• ellos, ellas viven – they eat
• ustedes viven – you (all) eat(polite)

There are some things that should be noted about the three verb groups above:

• they all have the same ending for the first person singular, I.
• the er and ir verb groups have very similar endings.
• ambiguity can be avoided when using the third person singular and plural, and the polite version of you by using the subject pronoun to precede the verb.(The subject pronoun is often dropped in European Spanish although it is still used frequently in Latin American Spanish)

Spanish Irregular Verbs

Spanish verbs would be relatively easy to master if only all verbs followed the rules of regular verb conjugation. As you may have guessed, this just is not the case.

There are quite a number of verbs that have irregularities in how they are conjugated and unfortunately many of these verbs are also amongst the most commonly used verbs in Spanish. Ser and estar (both meaning to be), haber and tener (both meaning to have), ir (to go), hacer (to make or, to do), dar (to give), coger (to take), poner (to put), poder (to be able to (can)), querer (to want), ver (to see), decir (to say), and venir (to come) are the core of irregular verbs most often used, but there are a great deal more.

The irregularities in these verbs can vary greatly from being highly irregular to a singular variation and the only way to learn them properly is to study each one individually, and the best way of doing this is to use verb training program specifically designed to improve the speed and the enjoyment level at which conjugations are learnt.

Conclusion:

The importance of understanding and using correct verb conjugation cannot be understated. Using verbs correctly is a fundamental part of successfully making the transition from beginner to fluent Spanish speaker, and although difficult should be approached with positive mental preparation.

Are you having problems remembering the correct conjugations of Spanish verbs? Check out the internet’s newest and best Spanish Verb Conjugator that is designed to help you train and memorize Spanish verbs better than ever before! Click Here for more information.