Native Language
When studying a second language one usually refers back and compares it to ones own native language. You will see me making references back to the English language to help you with your study of the Spanish language. You will be looking at the similarities and differences between the two languages as you learn Spanish.
English Sentences
• You will recall from your study of English that sentences can be broken down into smaller parts. Sentences have at least a subject (a noun or pronoun) and a verb. In the sentence, “María runs.”, María is the noun and the subject of the sentence. “Runs” is the verb.
María runs.
↓ ↓
noun, subject verb
• Sentences may also have objects (nouns and pronouns), modifiers (adjectives and adverbs), prepositions, conjunctions, and / or articles. For example, in the sentence, “María is tall.”, tall is an adjective. In the sentence,” María runs quickly.”, quickly is an adverb.
María is tall. ↓ adjective María runs quickly. ↓ adverb
María sees a beautiful house.
• In the sentence, “María sees a beautiful house.” The word “a” is an indefinite article, “beautiful” is an adjective and “house” is a noun and object in the sentence. Another example would be the sentence,” María runs at the park.” The word “at” is a preposition, “the” is a definite article and “park” is a noun and object of the sentence.
María sees a beautiful house. ↓ ↓ ↓ indefinite article adjective noun, object María runs at the park. ↓ ↓ ↓ Preposition indefinite article noun, object
She runs.
• An example of a sentence using a pronoun for the subject would be, “She runs.”, she is both the subject and a pronoun. “María and Juan run.”, is an example of a sentence using a conjunction (and).
She runs. ↓ subject, pronoun María and Juan run. ↓ Conjunction
Spanish uses the Adjective before the Noun
• You will notice that the Spanish language places the adjective before the noun, which is the opposite of what occurs in the English language. You have heard many questions and sentences in Spanish. Spanish sentences are normally formed by using a subject, then the verb, and then the object and/or description. For example, “Ernesto tiene un coche grande.”, and “María es alta.” In the example, “Ernesto tiene un coche grande.”, “Ernesto” is the subject, “tiene” is the verb, and “coche” is the object and “grande “is the adjective. In the example, “Maria es alta.”, “Maria” is the subject, “es” is the verb and “alta“is the adjective.
Spanish uses the Adjective before the Noun
Ernesto has a big car. ↓ ↓ adjective noun, object Ernesto tiene un coche grande. ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ subject verb noun, object adjective María es alta. ↓ ↓ ↓ Subject verb adjective
Infinitives
• The most basic form of the Spanish verb is called an infinitive. Infinitives are usually seen as the equivalent of the “to” form of the verbs in English, such as “to eat” and “to live.” Spanish infinitives always end in one of three ways -ar, -er, or -ir, in this order of frequency. Infinitives need to be conjugated in order to indicate who is performing the action of the verb.
• Regular Verbs Most verbs are conjugated regularly, which means that
if you know the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or –ir) you can predict/determine its conjugation.
Regular –ar Verbs
The conjugation forms for a regular verb ending in –ar are:
Spanish verb English
(yo) -o I
(tú) -as you (informal ,singular)
(usted, él, ella) -a you (polite, singular); he/she
(nosotros/nosotras) -amos we
(vosotros/vosotras) -áis you (informal, plural, Spain)
(ustedes, ellos/ellas) -an you (plural); they
For example, the regular –ar verb hablar (to speak) would be Spanish Verb English
(yo) hablo I speak.
(tú) hablas You (informal, singular) You
speak.
(usted, él, ella) habla you (polite, singular);
he/she
You speak; He/She speaks.
(nosotros/nosotras) hablamos We speak.
(vosotros/vosotras) habláis You (informal, plural, Spain)
You speak.
Regular –ar Verbs
• What we did was take the ending –ar off and replaced it with the corresponding conjugated ending to indicate who is doing the action in the sentence.
(Yo) Hablo español. I speak Spanish. (Tú) Hablas español. You speak Spanish. (Usted, él, ella) Habla español. He/She speaks Spanish. (Nosotros) Hablamos español. We speak Spanish. (Vosotros) Habláis español. You speak Spanish. (Ustedes, ellos, ellas) Hablan español. You/They speak Spanish.
Regular –ar Verbs
• Remember that the Spanish verbs change their endings according to the subject of the sentence. The subject pronouns (yo, tú, usted, él, ella, nosotros, etc.) are in parenthesis because it is not always necessary to use them. The verb itself or the context usually tells you who the subject is.
Regular –er Verbs
The conjugation forms for a regular verb ending in –er are:
(yo) -o I
(tú) -es you (informal ,singular)
(usted, él, ella) -e you (polite, singular);
he/she
(nosotros/nosotras) -emos we
(vosotros/vosotras) -éis you (informal, plural,
Spain)
(ustedes, ellos/ellas) -en you (plural); they
Regular –er Verbs • An example of a regular verb ending in –er is leer
(to read) and it would be conjugated as follows:
Spanish Verb English
(yo) leo I read.
(tú) lees You (informal, singular)
read.
(usted, él, ella) lee You (polite, singular) read;
He/She reads.
(nosotros/nosotras) leemos We read.
(vosotros/vosotras) leéis You (informal, plural,
Spain) read.
(ustedes, ellos/ellas) leen You (plural) read; They
Regular –er Verbs • What we did was take the ending –er off and
replaced it with the corresponding conjugated ending to indicate who is doing the action in the sentence.
(Yo) leo. I read.
(Tú) lees. You read.
(Usted, él, ella) lee. He/She reads.
(Nosotros) leemos. We read.
(Vosotros) leéis. You read.
(Ustedes, ellos, ellas) leen. They read.
Regular –er Verbs
• Remember that the Spanish verbs change their endings according to the subject of the sentence. The subject pronouns (yo, tú, usted, él, ella, nosotros, etc.) are in parenthesis because it is not always necessary to use them. The verb itself or the context usually tells you who the subject is.
Regular –ir Verbs • The conjugation forms for a regular verb
ending in –ir are:
Spanish verb English
(yo) -o I
(tú) -es you (informal ,singular)
(usted, él, ella) -e you (polite, singular);
he/she
(nosotros/nosotras) -imos we
(vosotros/vosotras) -ís you (informal, plural, Spain)
(ustedes, ellos/ellas) -en you (plural); they
• An example of a regular verb ending in –ir is vivir (to live) and it would be conjugated as follows:
Spanish verb English
(yo) vivo I live.
(tú)
vives
You (informal, singular) live.
(usted, él, ella) vive You (polite, singular) live;
He/She lives.
(nosotros/nosotras) vivimos We live.
(vosotros/vosotras) vivís You (informal, plural, Spain)
live.
(ustedes, ellos/ellas) viven You (plural) live; They live.
Regular Verbs
• What we did was take the ending –ir off and replaced it with the corresponding conjugated ending to indicate who is doing the action in the sentence.
(Yo) vivo. I live.
(Tú) vives. You live.
(Usted, él, ella) vive. He/She lives.
(Nosotros/as) vivimos. We live.
(Vosotros/as) vivís. You live.
(Ustedes, ellos, ellas) viven. They live.
Conjugation of Regular Verbs
• Remember that the Spanish verbs change their endings according to the subject of the sentence. The subject pronouns (yo, tú, usted, él, ella, nosotros, etc.) are in parenthesis because it is not always necessary to use them. The verb itself or the context usually tells you who the subject is.
Conjugating Regular Verbs
• In the following chart you will see the similarities and differences between the three verb endings and their conjugation forms.
Spanish -ar verb endings -er verb ending -ir verb endings English
(yo) -o -o -o I
(tú) -as -es -es You (informal
singular)
(usted, él,
ella)
-a -e -e He/she
(nosotros/as) -amos -emos -imos We
(vosotros/as) -aís éis -ís You (informal
plural)
Verbs without a Subject
• Spanish verbs are commonly used without a subject. Because conjugation indicates who is performing the action, an explicit subject often isn’t necessary. For example, it is clear that “canto bien” means “I sing well,” and it is not necessary to include “yo”, the word for “I.” In other words, subject pronouns are frequently omitted and that is why they are shown above in parenthesis.
