LOS VERBOS



LOS VERBOS

Verbs in Spanish:

For beginning students of Spanish, verbs are the key to communication. It is important to learn the basic rules and patterns, including any prepositions that follow the verb, from the very beginning of language study. Verbs are divided first into moods (indicative, infinitive, subjunctive, imperative). Each mood includes various tenses (present, past, etc.) Most students and many introductory texts only identify two moods, the indicative and the subjunctive. In this course, you will only encounter the present indicative. For example, “I read” is in the present indicative, as is “Jack throws (the ball).”

In addition to moods, verbs are also categorized as either regular (they follow a standard pattern when conjugating) or irregular (they do not follow a standard pattern when conjugating). In English, to be is an irregular verb and to walk is a regular verb. However, regular verbs in Spanish are more highly inflected than in English. In other words, they change forms each time you change person (first, second and third) and number (singular or plural). The chart below illustrates the differences in regular verbs.

|HABLAR |TO SPEAK |

|(N.B. The ar ending on the infinitive in Spanish is the |(N.B. This is the infinitive. It is the equivalent in English |

|equivalent of “to” in the English infinitive. Always learn the |of hablar.) |

|infinitive when you learn a verb. You will need to be able to | |

|determine the infinitive in order to look it up in the | |

|dictionary.) | |

|1 (yo) hablo |(nosotros) hablamos |1 I speak |we speak |

|2 (tú) hablas |(vosotros) habláis |2 you speak |you speak |

|(familiar form of address) |(familiar form of address, used | | |

| |in Spain, not LA) | | |

|3 (él) habla |(ellos) hablan |3 he speakS |they speak |

|(ella) habla |(ellas) hablan |she speakS | |

|(Usted) habla |(Ustedes) hablan |(N.B. This is the only place | |

|(N.B. The verb in Spanish |(used in LA for both familiar |where a regular English verb | |

|changes in each person in both |and polite, plural) |changes.) | |

|singular & plural.) | | | |

You will also notice in the chart above that the second person singular and plural forms of the verb are listed as familiar form of address. In Spanish, as in many other languages, one uses the familiar when speaking with friends, family, animals, and children (whether you know them or not). One uses the polite (Usted or Ustedes) form when addressing people one does not know, one’s superiors at work or professors, or anyone in a position that requires an extra measure of respect (an elected official, a priest, etc.) As a non-native speaker of Spanish, it is always preferable to be perceived as overly polite instead of rude and insulting. Since English-speakers do not make these distinctions, it is important to be sensitive to possible inappropriate uses of the familiar form of address. Customs vary widely in the hispanophone world; therefore, it is best to let the native speakers take the lead in deciding whether it is tú/vosotros OR Usted/Ustedes.

To complicate matters even further, verbs in Spanish are divided into

• First conjugation: those with infinitives ending in –AR (e.g., hablar, to speak)

• Second conjugation: those with infinitives ending in –ER (e.g., aprender, to learn)

• Third conjugation: those with infinitives ending in –IR (vivir, to live)

• Stem changing: these are verbs that can belong to either of the three “conjugation categories” and that have a spelling change in the stem in some tenses, particularly the present indicative. The stem is the part of the verb left after dropping the infinitive ending (-ar, -er, or –ir). An example is pensar (to think) which changes the e of the stem (pens-) to ie in the first, second, and third person singular and in the third person plural: pienso (I think).

Other things to remember about verbs (and subject pronouns) in Spanish:

• The familiar tú of the second person singular and is traditionally used with people one knows well and with inferiors. Non-native speakers must be careful with its usage so as not to encourage negative stereotypes of “Anglos” who look down on Latinos as inferiors who should be sent back to their country of origin. This usage has been customary for centuries.

• Vosotros (and vosotras for groups that are “feminine” in gender) appeared first in the thirteenth century as a result of the linguistic confusion resulting from the use of another familiar form (vos) which, although originally singular in number, had begun to be used indiscriminately for both singular and plural. The vos as a singular familiar form of the verb is found in a number of Latin American countries and is a continuation of a speech form brought over during the Conquest of the Americas by Spain. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, vos was common in rural areas and among soldiers, hence its appearance and persistence in the Americas. Vosotros/Vosotras is now used only in Spain.

• The Usted/Ustedes forms began to appear in common usage in the fifteenth century in Spain due to the decline in usage of vos as a form of respect. From the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries, vos was a term of respect. It is used interchangeably for the next two centuries, and by the eighteenth century it had dropped out of usage in Spain, persisting only in some regions in the Americas as a familiar form of address. Usted is derived from Vuestra Merced (Your Grace), which came into more common usage in the fourteenth century to eliminate the confusion surrounding the use of vos. Eventually the “v” was lost, leaving Usted and ultimately Ud. as the abbreviation (singular) and Ustedes/Uds. for the plural. The abbreviations Vd./Vds., however, can still be found in older texts and in materials printed in Spain.

• Because the verb endings in the first and second person plural indicate whether the subject pronoun is I, we, or you, subject pronouns are not often used in Spanish. When they are used, it is generally for emphasis. However, confusion may occur in the third person singular and plural, thus making the use of subject pronouns more common, especially if the context is not clear.

• The present indicative in Spanish can be rendered in three different ways in English.

(yo) hablo = I speak, I do speak, I am speaking

(tú) estudias = you study, you do study, you are studying

In English, we need “do” in order to ask a question: Do you study Spanish? In Spanish this extra verb is unnecessary. Rising inflection in the voice lets the listener know that a question is being asked: ¿Estudias español? (N.B. Later in your study of Spanish, but not in this course, you will learn about the present progressive tense which can also be rendered in English as “I am speaking/studying.” However, the progressive is only used to express an action or idea that is in progress when an individual is speaking. In other words, it conveys the idea of “right now”→ Estás estudiando = You are studying (right now, at this moment).

• Reflexive verbs in Spanish can be recognized because they always have the third person flexive pronoun se attached to the end of the infinitive: llamarse (to be called: me llamo = I am called OR in spoken English ► My name is …), divertirse (to have a good time, enjoy oneself), levantarse (to stand up, to get up), sentarse (to sit down), ponerse (to put on clothing), quitarse (to take off clothing) dormirse (to fall asleep). Some of these also fall in the category of “stem changing” verbs, those that have a spelling change in the stem of the infinitive.

Me siento = I sit down (the “e” in the infinitive stem, sent-, changes to “ie” in all singular forms and in all forms of the third person plural. Although the spelling changes may differ depending upon the verb, this is the conjugation pattern for all stem changing verbs in the present indicative.

Other stem changing verbs in the list are:

Divertirse ► divert- is the stem (drop the pronoun “se” and the infinitive ending, -ir). The vowel in the stem is “e” and it will change to “ie” in all singular forms and the third person plural forms of the present indicative. For example: Juan se divierte mucho (Juan is have a very good time; enjoying himself a lot).

Sentarse ► sent- is the stem; the “e” of the stem changes to “ie” when conjugating the verb in the present indicative. Juan se sienta (Juan sits down).

Dormirse ► dorm- is the stem; the “o” of the stem changes to “ue” when conjugating the verb in the present indicative. Juan se duerme (Juan falls asleep).

A final word about reflexive verbs: When conjugating the verb, the correct reflexive pronoun must be used, i.e. the one that agrees with the verb, just as the correct subject pronoun must be used. For example, levantarse becomes

(yo) me levanto (nosotros/nosotras) nos levantamos

(tú) te levantas (vosotros/vosotras) os levantáis

él, ella, Usted se levanta ellos, ellas, Ustedes se levantan

• Verbs with an irregular form in the first person singular (yo-I) Some verbs like “poner” (to put, to place) have an irregular form in the first person singular and then follow the rules for conjugating regular verbs when you come to second and third person singular and all forms of the plural. Fortunately, there is a pattern for the majority of these verbs because the first person singular form will end in “go” → pongo. For example, “pongo el libro en la mesa.” (I put the book on the table.) Notice that “poner” can also be used as a reflexive verb, but the meaning changes. This is true of many verbs in Spanish.

Ejemplos de verbos regulares

Hablar → See page 1.

Comer [to eat] (drop the infinitive ending, -er, and add the appropriate endings. See below.)

(yo) como (nosotros/nosotras) comemos

(tú) comes (vosotros, vosotras) coméis

(él , ella, Ud.) come (ellos, ellas, Uds.) comen

Vivir [to live] (drop the infinitive ending, -ir, and add the appropriate endings. See below.)

yo) vivo (nosotros/nosotras) vivimos

(tú) vives (vosotros/vosotras) vivís

(él, ella, Ud.) vive (ellos, ellas, Uds.) viven

¡OJO! (N.B.) Notice that there are commonalities among the endings for these three conjugations. For example,

• the “O” always indicates first person singular (I, in English),

• the “S” indicates second person singular/familiar (you, in English),

• the single vowel by itself (“A” or “E”) indicates third person singular,

• the “MOS” indicates first person plural (we, in English)

• the “IS” indicates second person plural/familiar (you all, in English)

• the final “N” preceded by a vowel (either “A” or “E”) indicates third person plural (they for ellos/ellas and you all for Uds.).

VERBS ARE VERY IMPORTANT IN SPANISH. THESE NOTES REPRESENT ONLY A BRIEF INTRODUCTION. A GOOD VERB REFERENCE BOOK, 501 VERBS, IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED AND IT IS AVAILABLE IN MOST BOOKSTORES (BARNES & NOBLE, BORDERS, ETC.).[pic]

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