Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Spanish Verb Tenses
Spanish Verb Tenses
A. Regular verbs. To form the present indicative of regular verbs, drop the infinitive ending
(-ar, -er, or -ir) and add the endings given below:
B. In the above examples, note that the endings for the -er and -ir verbs are identical except
for the nosotros and vosotros forms.
C. Stem changing verbs. These verbs are also referred to as “radical changing verbs”; the
word radical in Spanish means “stem” or “root”. The stem vowel undergoes a change
when it is stressed in the present tense. [These verbs do not so change in any other tense
—except for -ir verbs, which experience a stem change in the -ndo form, in the present
subjunctive and in the preterit.]
1. o > ue (the stem vowel o changes to ue when stressed)
pedir (request, ask for) pido, pides, pide, pedimos, pedís, piden
jugar (play [a game or sport]) juego, juegas, juega, jugamos, jugáis, juegan
D. Verbs with an irregular first person singular (yo) form. [Note that all of these verbs
will also have special forms for the present subjunctive, since present subjunctive forms
are based on the first person singular.]
1. c > zc in the yo form:
2. This is the usual pattern for verbs whose infinitive ends in -cer or -cir: acontecer
(happen), agradecer (thank), amanecer (dawn), aparecer (appear), conducir
(drive, conduct), crecer (grow), enflaquecerse (get thin), enriquecerse (get rich),
envejecerse (get older), establecer (establish), merecer(deserve), nacer (be
born), obedecer (obey), ofrecer (offer), padecer (suffer), parecer (seem),
permanecer (remain), producir (produce), reducir (reduce), and traducir
(translate).
3. appearance of g in the yo form:
caber (fit [in something]) quepo, cabes, cabe, cabemos, cabéis, caben
dar (give) doy, das, da, damos, dais, dan
saber (know [facts]) sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, sabéis, saben
ver (see) veo, ves, ve, vemos, veis, ven
E. Verbs which add an accent over a final weak vowel. The vowels i and u are “weak
vowels” in contrast to the “strong vowels” a, e, and o. When they come in contact with
any other vowel they normally form a diphthong; the addition of a written accent keeps
this diphthonization from occurring. Such accents are necessary for some verbs because
the i and u are the stem vowels:
F. Similar verbs: actuar (act), efectuar (bring about), graduar (graduate), confiar (trust),
criar (raise, bring up), esquiar (ski), vaciar (empty).
G. With most other verbs the i and u are not stem vowels, and thus form diphthongs:
2. More verbs in this category: corregir (correct), exigir (require), fingir (pretend),
and surgir (arise).
3. gu > g: Verbs whose infinitive form ends in -guir drop the u before an a or an o.
4. Other verbs like this include seguir (follow, continue; e>i) and its compounds:
conseguir (get, obtain) and perseguir (pursue).
M. Invariable. There is one verb which never changes in the present tense. Hay (“there is”,
“there are”, from the infinitive haber) has only one form in the present indicative. The
same form is used for both singular and plural subjects (or complements):
Hay muchos españoles en tu clase? Are there many Spaniards in your class?
No, sólo hay uno. No, there is only one.
N. Note: This carries over to the other tenses as well: it is only used in a singular form, even
when used with plural subjects/complements:
Special case: The present tense with hacer in expressions of time. As indicated at the
beginning, the present tense is used to indicate an action in progress, and this is true even if the
action began in past time but the emphasis is on the present time. This is frequently seen with the
hacer + expression of time construction:
Hace un mes que busco una casa nueva.
or: I've been looking for a new house for a month.
Busco una casa nueva desde hace un mes.
Note that if the hace clause may be used either before or after the main verb; if used afterwards,
desde is inserted before hace.
Llene los vacíos con la forma correcta del presente de indicativo del verbo indicado.
Verbos usados: bailar, comer, conocer, creer, decir, dar, estar, hacer, haber, ir, jugar, pedir,
poner, regresar, saber, ser, tener, traer, venir, ver, vivir, volver.
Llene los vacíos con la forma correcta del presente de indicativo del verbo indicado.
Verbos usados: bailar, comer, conocer, creer, decir, dar, estar, hacer, haber, ir, jugar, pedir,
poner, regresar, saber, ser, tener, traer, venir, ver, vivir, volver.
9. —Paquito, ¿ juegan / jugáis [sports/game] {tocan / tocáis [music]} (will play) tú y tus
hermanos con nosotros hoy?
—Sí, nosotros jugamos / tocamos (will play) con ustedes con mucho gusto.
digo (say) que los Gigantes van (are going) a ser los campeones este año.
—¡Naturalmente! hace (it is [hot]) mucho calor afuera, 100 grados, y el acondicionador
del aire no funciona hoy.
http://users.ipfw.edu/jehle/courses/present1.htm