Tenses
Conjugation of verbs
Present Tense (there are 13 other tenses)
Action in present time, habitual, routine, present situation, continuity
English
I
informal you
Spanish
yo tú
ar verbs
er verbs
ir verbs
o
o
o
as
es
es
formal you
he
she
it
usted
el /ella
a
e
e
we
they
nosotros
ustedes
amos
emos
imos
an
en
en
Verbs change to indicate WHO is performing the action. (yo, tú, él/ella, Ud., nosotros, Uds.,
ellos/ellas --- I, you, he/she/it , we, plural you, they, them)
Present Tense
AR verbs - drop -ar and add o
yo
(I)
as
tú
(you) (informal)
(you, he, she, it,)
a
Ud. él, ella
(formal))
amos nosotros
(we)
Uds., ellos,
an
(you, plural)
ellas
ER verbs – drop –er and
add o
yo
es
tú
e
Ud. él, ella
emos* nosotros
en
Uds., ellos, ellas
IR verbs - drop -ir and
add o
yo
es
tú
e
Ud. él, ella
imos* nosotros
en
Uds., ellos, ellas
*Note: ER- and IR- verbs are the same except in the nosotros (we) form.
Examples:
Regular verbs
Comer
(to eat)
como(I eat)
comes (you eat)
come (he eats)
hablar
(to talk)
hablo
hablas
habla
escribir
(to write)
escribo
escribes
escribe
Some irregular verbs
tener
ser
estar
(to have) (to be) (to be)
tengo
soy
estoy
tienes
eres
estás
tiene
es
está
ir
(to go)
voy
vas
va
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comemos (we )
comen (they )
hablamos
hablan
escribimos
escriben
tenemos
tienen
somos
son
estamos
están
vamos
van
Pretérito (Past Tense)
Action completed at some time in the past
English
I
informal you
Spanish
yo tú
ar verbs
er and ir verbs
é
í
aste
iste
he
she
it
usted
el /ella
ó
ió
we
they
nosotros
ustedes
amos
imos
aron
ieron
Note: Er and Ir verbs are the same
AR verbs - drop -ar and add é
yo
(I)
aste tú
(you – informal)
ó
Ud. él, ella
(You, he, she, it – singular, formal)
amos nosotros
(we)
Uds., ellos,
(you, she, it plural) (or y’all as we say
aron
ellas
in Texas)
ER verbs –drop -er or ir and
add:
í
yo
iste
tú
ió
Ud. él, ella
imos nosotros
ieron Uds., ellos, ellas
Examples
Regular verbs
comer
hablar
(to eat)
(to talk)
comí
hablé
comiste
hablaste
comió
habló
comimos
hablamos
comieron
hablaron
escribir
(to write)
escribí
escribiste
escribió
escribimos
escribieron
Irregular verbs
tener
ser
(to have)
(to be)
tuve
fui
tuviste
fuiste
tuvo
fue
tuvimos
fuimos
tuvieron
fueron
estar
(to be)
estuve
estuviste
estuvo
estuvimos
estuvieron
ir
(to go)
fui
fuiste
fue
fuimos
fueron
Note: In the pretérito, ser and ir are the same.
In Spanish some words have a different meaning when used in the pretérito.
Eg., poder (to be able to) pude means succeeded in doing. There are lots of others.
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Look for words like
Ayer
Anteayer
Anoche
El otro día
Hace dos días
La samana pasada
El año pasado
Durante tres siglos
Mientras
yesterday
day before yesterday
last night
the other day
two days ago
last week
last year
for three centuries
meanwhile
Important words in the pretérito
AR verbs drop the -ar and add
ER and IR verbs drop the -er and -ir and add
Buscar
Contribuir
Dar
Dormir
Empezar
Jugar
Leer
Oír
Preferir
Sentir
Sugerir
(yo)
busqué
contribui
dí
dormí
empecé
jugué
leí
oí
preferí
sentí
sugerí
(tú)
buscaste
contribuiste
diste
dormiste
empezaste
jugaste
leiste
oiste
preferiste
sentiste
sugeriste
-é, -aste, -ó, -amos, -aron
-í, -iste, -ió, -imos, -ieron
(el, ella, Ud.)
buscó
contribuyó
dio
durmió
empezó
jugó
leyó
oyó
prefirió
sintió
sugirió
(nosotro)
buscamos
contribuimos
dimos
dormimos
empezamos
jugamos
leimos
oimos
preferimos
sentimos
sugerimos
(ellos, ellas, Uds.)
buscaron
contribuyeron
dieron
durmieron
empezaron
jugaron
leyeron
oyeron
prefirieron
sintieron
sugirieron
Note -i changes to y in oir, leer and contribuir, in the third person singular and third person
plural.
Future (Futuro) tense
Used to express an action or a state of being that will take place at some time in the future.
English
I
you
he
she
we
they
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Spanish
yo tú
Add to the end of
all infinitives, whether
-ar, -er, or -ir
é
ás
it
usted
él /ella
á
nosotros
ustedes
éllos /ellas
emos
án
Add these endings to the whole infinitive: é, ás, á, emos, án
Note that these Future endings happen to be the endings of haber in the present indicative:
he, has, ha, hemos, han. Also note the accent marks on the future endings except for the
we form, emos.
hablar --hablaré, hablarás, hablará, hablaremos, hablarán
beber --beberé, beberás, beberá, beberemos, beberán
Lo haré. I shall do it. I will do it.
Iremos al campo la semana que viene. We will go to the country next
week.
In Spanish, the future is also used to indicate.
(a)
(b)
(c)
Conjecture regarding the present
¿Qué hora será? I wonder what time it is.
¡Quién será a la puerta? I wonder who is at the door.
Probability regarding the present.
Serán las cinco. It is probably five o´clock. It must be five o´clock.
Tendrá muchos amigos. He probably has many friends. He must have many frieds.
An indirect quotation.
María dice que vendrá mañana.
Mary says that she will come tomorrow.
Remember that the future is never used in Spanish after si when it means if.
Imperfect Tense
Imperfect suggests incomplete. An action or a state of being that was continuous in the past and
its completion is not indicated. (I think – used to, as well as was..)
English
I
you
Spanish
yo
tú
he
she
it
usted
él /ella
we
they
nosotros
ustedes
éllos /ellas
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ar verbs
er and ir verbs
aba
ía
abas
ías
aba
ía
ábamos
íamos
aban
ían
This tense is used to express:
a. An action that was going on in the past at the same time as another action:
Mi hermano leía y mi padre hablaba. My brother was reading and my father was talking.
b. An action that was going on in the past when another action occurred.
Mi hermana cantaba cuando yo entré. My sister was singing when I came in.
c. An action that a person did habitually in the past.
1. Cuando estábamos en Nueva York, ibamos al cine todos los sábados. When we
were in New York, we went to the movies every Saturday.
2. Cuando vivíamaos en California, ibamaos a la playa todos los días. When we
lived in
California, we went to the beach every day. (habitual action in the past.)
d. Also mental, physical, emotional condition in the past. Quiería ir al cine (mental. I would
like to go to the movie) Estaba contento de verlo. (emotional - happy to see it.) Mi
madre era hermosa cuando era pequeña. (physical – when she was small).
e. Time of day in the past. ¿Qué hora era?
f. An action or state that occurred in the past and lasted for a certain length of time…Hacía
tres horas que miraba la television cuando mi hermano entró. (I had been watching TV
for 3 hours when my brother came in.)
AR verbs – drop –ar and add
aba
yo
abas
tú
aba
Ud. él, ella
ábamos
nosotros
aban
Uds., ellos, ellas
ER – IR verbs – drop –er/-ir and add
ía
yo
ías
tú
ía
Ud. él, ella
íamos
nosotros
ían
Uds., ellos, ellas
Examples:
Regular verbs
Comer
hablar
(to eat)
(to talk)
comía
hablaba
escribir
(to write)
escribía
Some irregular verbs
tener
ser
(to have)
(to be)
tenía (had)
era (was)
estar
(to be)
estaba
ir
(to go)
iba (went)
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comías
comía
comíamos
comían
hablabas
hablaba
hablábamos
hablaban
escribías
escribía
escribíamos
escribían
tienías
tienía
teníamos
tieníen
eras
era
eramos
eran
estabas
estaba
estábamos
estaban
Ser (was)
Ir (went)
Ver (saw)
Estar (used to be)
Tenía (had)
ibas
iba
íbamos
iban
ver
(to see)
veía (saw)
veías
veía
veíamos
veían
Look for words like:
Siempre
Cada .....
Cuando
Todas
A veces
Antes de
Muchas veces
Con frequencia
Frequentemente
A menudo (often)
De vez en cuando (sometime, from time to time)
Present Progressive (adding-ing to a verb)
Present Participle
The present participle of -ar verbs consists of the root verb plus -ando.
The present participle of the -er and -ir verbs consist of the root verb plus -iendo
Hablar
Comer
Salido
hablando
comiendo
saliendo
(talking)
(eating)
(going out)
jugar
volver
escribir
jugando
volviendo
escribiendo
(playing)
(returning)
(writing)
Many stem-changing -ir verbs also have a stem change in the present participle:
Sentir
Pedir
Decir
sintiendo
pidiendo
diciendo
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Venir
Dormir
Ir
viniendo
durmiendo
yendo (going)
Verbs such as construir, leer, and creer which have a y in the preterito also have the y in the
present participle:
Contruir
Leer
Creer
Oír
construyendo
leyendo
creyendo
oyendo
Present Progressive Tense
The action of the verb is taking place right now
In order to form the progressive tense of the auxiliary verb, estar is used along with the present
participle (Tells who is doing the action)
Hablar (to talk)
Estoy hablando
Estás hablando
Está hablando
Estamos hablando
Están hablando
Comer (to eat)
estoy comiendo
estás comiendo
está cominedo
estamos comiendo
están comiendo
Estoy hablando con mi amiga.
Ellos están saliendo al cine.
El niño está comiendo un
sándwich.
Estamos caminando en la playa.
I am talking with my friend.
They are going out to the
theater.
The boy is eating a
sandwich.
We are walking on the
beach.
salir (to go out)
estoy saliendo
estás saliendo
está saliendo
estamos saliendo
están saliendo
Reflexive Pronouns
Denotes action self-to-self (me, te, se, nos, se)
me (myself)
te (yourself) informal
se (yourself) formal*
nos (ourselves)
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se (plural yourselves – y’all)*
*Single and plural “you” are the same.
Use reflexive pronouns only when you, he, or she does something to him-her-yourself.
Pronoun can be placed before the conjugated verb or attached to the end of the infinitive.
Juan se lave el pelo.
Juan le gusta ducharse
Me lavo la cara todos los días.
Yo lavo el perro. I wash the dog.
John washes his(the) hair ( se himself)
John likes to shower (himself se)
I wash my(the) face myself every day.
You wash the dog, not yourself.
In that instance you would not use a reflexive pronoun.
NOTE: When adding endings (pronouns) to reflexive verbs, you must count back three vowels
from the end and insert an accent on the third vowel…
Estoy lavándose.
Estamos lavándonos el pelo.
Estoy peinándome el pelo.
I am washing myself.
We are washing our hair (ourselves)
I am combing my hair (myself)
If Juan puts on shoes that he borrowed from you, you would then say --Juan se pone tus zapatos. (Juan himself puts your shoes on himself)
Conditional
Potential Simple
The following endings are added to the whole infinitive. (-ar, -er and -ir verbs)
ía, ías, ía, íamos, ían
The usual translation in English is: I would talk, you would talk, etc.; would drink, you would
drink, etc.; I would receive, you would receive, etc.
The conditional is used in Spanish and in English to express:
a. An action that you would do if something else were possible
Irá a España si tuviera dinero.
I would go to Spain if I had the money.
b. A conditional desire. This is a conditional courtesy.
Me gustaría tomar una limonada. I would like (should like) to have a limonade (if you
are willing for me to have it.)
c. A direct quotation
María dijo que vendría mañana. Mary said she would come tomorrow.
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María decía que vendría mañana. Mary was saying she would come tomorrow.
María había dicho que vendría manana. Mary had said that she would come tomorrow.
d. Conjecture regarding the past.
¿Quién sería? I wonder who that was.
e. Probability regarding the past.
Serían las cinco cuando salieron.. It was probably five o´clock when they went out.
Imperativo
Imperative or Command
(This is only a brief explanation)
An indirect command or deep desire expressed in the third person singular or plural is in the
subjunctive mood. We use let or may in the English translation: Qué introduces this kind of
command in Spanish.
¡Qué lo haga Jorge! Let George do it!
¡Qué Dios se lo pague! May God reward you!
¡Qué vengan pronto! Let them come quickly!
¡Qué entre Robereto! Let Robert come in.
¡Qué salgan! Let them leave!
In the affirmative command, lst person, plural, vamos a (Let´s or Let us) + an infinitive may be
used.
Vamos a comer. Let's eat.
Vamos a cantar. Let's sing.
Vamos al cine. Let's go to the movies.
However if the negative (Let's not go) is used, the present subjunctive of ir must be used:
No vayamos el cine. Let's not go to the movies.
Note: Vámanos means let´s go or let´s leave.
Object Pronouns (direct, indirect, or reflexive) with an imperative (command) verb form in the
affirmative are attached to the verb form.
¡Hágalo (Ud.)! Do it¡
¡Díganaoslo (Ud.)! Tell it to us!
¡Levántate (Ud.)! Get up!
¡Siéntese (Ud.)! Sit down!
¡Démelo (Ud.) Give it to me!
Object Pronouns (direct, indirect, or reflexive) with an imperative (command) verb form in the
negative are placed in front of the verb form.
¡No lo hága(Ud.)!
¡No nos lo diga (Ud.)!
Don´t do it!
Don´t tell it to us!
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¡No me lo digas (tú)!
¡No se siente (Ud.)!
¡No me lo dé (Ud.)!
Don´t tell it to me!
Don´t get up!
Don´t give it to me!
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