| A
Spanish conjugated verb form is a complete sentence
by itself. |
|
Yes,
... it can also be a complete question ... |
| The
verb
infinitive identifies the action itself, and ends
in -ar, -er,
or -ir. |
| The
verb stem
is the infinitive minus
the -ar, -er,
or -ir. |
|
infinitive
|
|
ending
|
|
stem
|
|
hablar |
minus
|
-ar
|
= |
habl |
|
comer |
minus
|
-er
|
=
|
com |
|
vivir |
minus
|
-ir
|
=
|
viv |
|
| |
When
conjugating, endings can be added to either the
verb stem
or to the entire infinitive,
depending on the tense being formed. |
In
some cases, endings are attached to (changed)
stems of conjugated forms. |
|
If
THAT didn't scare you off, --- NOTHING will !!! |
| |
Conjugation
is the art of knowing which ending to attach, and
whether to attach the ending to the stem or to the
infinitive. |
An
attached ending indicates/corresponds with WHO
is doing the action, and when the action is being
done. |
| Don't
panic now! Remember: everybody in all those Spanish-speaking
countries is doing this all day long with every
single verb. Might say something about "mentality"
--- ... huh? |
| |
| |
Fortunately,
conjugations in Spanish follow various patterns.
That's what the -ar, -er, and -ir are all about. |
It
does take time to learn them, and you can do it. |
| |
(It's
really disturbing when you hear a 5-year-old using
the subjunctive forms correctly!) |
Pick
a set of forms to study, and stay with it until
you are comfortable with it. |
| |
Just
use the forms with several verbs, and get used to
the idea of associating a subject with a verb -
and that the ending will let you know
when it's happening. |
You
don't need to learn all of them at one sitting. |
You
should come back to these pages over & over
again as a reference, and gain mastery through much
practice. It's worth it, just for the doors it'll
open up for you! |
English
actually has worse scenarios, because so many "patterns"
don't exist for verbs. When you think of how brought
is related to bring,
or thought
to think, or
go to went,
etc., it's mind-boggling. |
It
would be of great benefit to initially familiarize
yourself with the significance of the tense names.
That in itself provides great control of how you'll
deal with endings and patterns. |
The
following chart indicates different conjugation
patterns that you will need to study for verb mastery.
Don't let it scare you too much ... |
The
HEADERS listed below will be presented on following
pages, so it's a good thing to learn to relate with
what they are. Here are some hints: |
| Present =
"now" or "ongoing" |
| Imperfect
= [past] "was happening, used to happen,
or would repeatedly happen" |
| Preterite
= [past] "happened" or "did happen" |
| Future = "might
happen" or "may happen" or "will
happen" |
| Conditional
= "would happen," if ... [There's
a condition!] |
|
NOW!
Go for it! Pick a link and learn more! |
|
Click on the Red
Arrow to go to that category's conjugation pages:
|
