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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.

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