Present Indicative
The Present Indicative is nothing more than normal speech in the present. If you wanted, right now, to say, "She eats at the table," you would say, en espaņol, "Ella come en la mesa." You would pronounce it a-ya coh-may en lah mace-uh. Remember that Spanish has different pronunciations for words that look very similar to English words. On the whole, it's best to not even try to pronounce Spanish words as English ones. If you think that a word is pronounced like it is in English, the general rule is that it's not. Just be carefule about your pronunciation.
There are three different types of regularly conjugated verbs. They are called -ar, -er, and -ir verbs. Strangely enough, -ar verbs end in ar, -er verbs end in er, and -ir verbs end in ir. Most verbs are regular and follow this pattern. There are a few stem-changing verbs who change their spelling, but that is a different section. To begin the study, here is a chart to explain the different persons.
Person |
English |
Spanish |
Singular |
First |
I |
yo |
Second |
You (familiar)* |
tú |
Third |
He, She, It, You (Formal)* |
Ustead (Ud.) |
Plural |
First |
We |
Nosotros |
Second |
Not Taught** |
Third |
Them, They, you (plural) |
Usteades |
*familiar is when you know the person as a friend and formal is when you
don't know the person as a friend.
**Vosotros (2nd person, plural) is not taught by me as it is only used in Spain
The present conjugations of the -ar, -er, and -ir verbs follow this. When conjugating, you drop the -ar, the -er, or the -ir off of the verb and attach what is presented below. Examples will follow.
-ar Verbs |
|
Singular |
Plural |
First |
-o |
-amos |
Second |
-as |
Third |
-a |
-an |
|
-er Verbs |
|
Singular |
Plural |
First |
-o |
-emos |
Second |
-es |
Third |
-e |
-en |
|
-ir Verbs |
|
Singular |
Plural |
First |
-o |
-imos |
Second |
-es |
Third |
-e |
-en |
|
hablar - to speak |
|
Singular |
Plural |
First |
hablo |
hablamos |
Second |
hablas |
Third |
habla |
hablan |
|
comer - to eat |
|
Singular |
Plural |
First |
como |
comemos |
Second |
comes |
Third |
come |
comen |
|
viver - to live |
|
Singular |
Plural |
First |
vivo |
vivimos |
Second |
vives |
Third |
vive |
viven |
|
By now you should have a good idea about how to conjugate verbs in the present tense. If you have any questions, I invite you to email me at jholder@descartes.coker.edu.
© 1997 joseph Holder