Verbs

Verbs are integral to expressing actions, states, and occurrences in Spanish. Understanding verb forms and their conjugations is essential for communication. This lesson provides an overview of verb types, key conjugations, and essential verbs in Spanish.

Types of Verbs

Regular Verbs

Regular verbs follow a consistent pattern in their conjugations. They are categorized based on their endings: -ar, -er, and -ir.

Examples:

• Hablar (to speak)
• Comer (to eat)
• Vivir (to live)

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs do not follow standard conjugation patterns and vary significantly across tenses.

Examples:

• Ser (to be)
• Ir (to go)
• Tener (to have)

Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs indicate that the subject performs an action on itself. They are often used with reflexive pronouns (me, te, se).

Examples:

• Lavarse (to wash oneself)
• Vestirse (to dress oneself)
• Dormirse (to fall asleep)

Basic Conjugations

Present Tense

Conjugation involves changing a verb form to provide information about the action. Present tense conjugation for regular verbs:

• Hablar: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, habláis, hablan
• Comer: como, comes, come, comemos, coméis, comen
• Vivir: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, vivís, viven

Preterite Tense

Used to express actions completed in the past:

• Hablar: hablé, hablaste, habló, hablamos, hablasteis, hablaron
• Comer: comí, comiste, comió, comimos, comisteis, comieron
• Vivir: viví, viviste, vivió, vivimos, vivisteis, vivieron

Future Tense

Used to express actions that will happen in the future:

• Hablar: hablaré, hablarás, hablará, hablaremos, hablaréis, hablarán
• Comer: comeré, comerás, comerá, comeremos, comeréis, comerán
• Vivir: viviré, vivirás, vivirá, viviremos, viviréis, vivirán