PRESENT
(TO DO SOMETHING NOW OR HABITUALLY)
VERB -AR/ER/IR + ENDING
-AR
-ER
-IR
YO
-O
-O
-O
TU
-AS
ES
-ES
EL/ELLA/UD.
-A
E
-E
NOSOTROS
-AMOS
-EMOS
-IMOS
VOSOTROS
-ÁIS
-ÉIS
-ÍS
ELLOS/ELLAS/UDS.
-AN
-EN
-EN
FUTURE
(TO DO SOMETHING IN THE FUTURE)
INFINITIVE + ENDING
ALL
YO
+É
TU
+ÁS
EL/ELLA/UD.
+Á
NOSOTROS
+EMOS
VOSOTROS
+ÉIS
ELLOS/ELLAS/UDS.
+ÁN
IMPERFECT
(A PAST TENSE WITH MANY USES LOOK ON
TEXT PAGE 74))
VERB -AR/ER/IR + ENDING
-AR
-ER + -IR
YO
-ABA
-ÍA
TU
-ABAS
-ÍAS
EL/ELLA/UD.
-ABA
-ÍA
NOSOTROS
-ÁBAMOS
-ÍAMOS
VOSOTROS
-ABAIS
-ÍAIS
ELLOS/ELLAS/UDS.
-ABAN
-ÍAN
PRETERIT (A PAST TENSE USED FOR
COMPLETED PAST ACTIONS – THINGS THAT
HAPPENED ONCE OR HAVE DEFINITE
BEGINNING & ENDINGS)
VERB -AR/ER/IR + ENDING
-AR
-ER + -IR
YO
-É
-Í
TU
-ASTE
-ISTE
EL/ELLA/UD.
-Ó
-IÓ
NOSOTROS
-AMOS
-IMOS
VOSOTROS
-ASTAIS
-EIS
ELLOS/ELLAS/UDS.
-ARON
-IERON
PRESENT PROGRESSIVE (TO BE DOING SOMETHING NOW)
ESTAR (CONJUGATED) + VERB –AE/ER/IR + PRESENT PARTICIPLE
PRESENT PARTICIPLE
-AR
-ER + -IR
-ANDO
-IENDO
PAST PROGRESSIVE (TO HAVE BEEN DOING SOMETHING)
ESTAR (CONJUGATE IN IMPERFECT) + VERB –AR/ER/IR + PRESENT PARTICIPLE
PRESENT PARTICIPLE
-AR
-ANDO
-ER + -IR
-IENDO
PRESENT PERFECT
(TO HAVE DONE SOMETHING IN THE RECENT PAST )
HABER (CONJUGATED + VERB –AR/ER/IR + PAST PARTICIPLE
HABER
YO
TU
EL/ELLA/UD.
HE
HAS
HA
NOSOTROS
HEMOS
VOSOTROS
ELLOS/ELLAS/UDS.
HABÉIS
HAN
PAST PARTICIPLE
-AR
-ADO
-ER/IR
-IDO
NEAR FUTURE (TO BE “GOING TO” DO SOMETHING
IN THE VERY NEAR FUTURE)
IR (CONJUGATED) + A + INFINITIVE
CONTRACTIONS
A + EL = AL
DE + EL = DEL
DE/A + LA
NEVER CONTRACT→
DE/A + LAS
DE/A + LOS
RECENT PAST (TO HAVE JUST DONE SOMETHING)
ACABAR (CONJUGATE) + DE + INFINITIVE
REPETETIVE ACTION (TO DO SOMETHING AGAIN)
VOLVER (CONJUGATE) + A + INFINITIVE
PAST PERFECT (TO HAD HAVE DONE SOMETHING )
HABER (CONJUGATED IN IMPERFECT) + VERB –AR/ER/IR + PAST
PARTICIPLE
PAST PARTICIPLE
-AR
-ADO
-ER/IR
-IDO
FUTURE PERFECT (TO WILL HAVE DONE SOMETHING )
HABER (CONJUGATED IN FUTURE) + VERB –AR/ER/IR + PAST
PARTICIPLE
PAST PARTICIPLE
-AR
-ADO
-ER/IR
-IDO
CONDITIONAL (*)
INFINITIVE + ENDING (IMPERFECT IR)
+ÍA
+ÍAS
+ÍA
+ÍAMOS
+ÍAIS
+ÍAN
DIRECT COMPARATIVE (SOMETHING IS MORE/LESS THAN SOMETHING ELSE
NOUN¹ + SER (CONJUGATE) + MÁS/MENOS + ADJECTIVE + QUE + NOUN²
CATAGORICAL COMPARATIVE (SOMETHING IS MORE/LESS THAN
[LARGER GROUP]
NOUN + SER (CONJUGATE) + [OPTIONAL: DEFINITE ARTICLE]
MÁS/MENOS + ADJECTIVE + DE + GROUP
DEFINITE ARTICLE EXPLAINS WHAT THE NOUN IS (EX: MARIA – LA
ESTUDIANTE, THS – LA ESCUELA)
COMPARISONS OF EQUALITY
(SOMETHING IS AS SOMETHING AS SOMETHING ELSE)
NOUN¹+ SER (CONJUGATE) + TAN + ADJECTIVE + COMO + NOUN²–
ADJECTIVE AGREES WITH FIRST NOUN
NOUN¹ + VERB + TANTO + NOUN IN COMMON+ COMO + NOUN²–
(*) YOU NEED TO KNOW WHEN TO USE THIS [SPECIAL RULES APPLY]
INFORMAL COMMANDS (TELL ONE PERSON TO DO OR NOT
DO SOMETHING.
Regular verbs – affirmative is the “él/ella/Ud.” form of the verb in the
present tense.
Regular verbs – negative is formed by adding “as” to the er/ir verbs and
“es” to the ar verbs.
Irregular affirmatives
Irregular negatives
Diana haz seventen ponies in her salon.
No digas – don’t say
Di – say
No hagas – don’t do/make
Haz – do or make
No seas – don’t be
Se – be
No vaya – don’t go
Ve – go
No vengas – don’t come
Ven – come
No pongas – don’t put/place
Pon – put or place
No salgas – don’t leave
Sal - leave
REFLEXIVE VERBS – these end in “se” and are used to express that
something is both doing and being affected by the same action.
When conjugated these verbs require a reflexive pronoun in front of
them:
Me
Nos
Te
Os
Se
Se
Watch out for stem changers in the present tense like
 Despertarse (e – ie)
 Vestirse (e – i)
 Acostarse (o – ue)
Verbs that can cause stress – while there are some listed in the chapters of Buen
Viaje (like querer, poder and others) the following are ones that get used a lot that
can also be tricky…
Ser – irregular in most tenses
Estar – irregular in most tenses
Ir – irregular in most tenses and identical to “ser” in the preterite
Saber - irregular in most tenses
Tener - irregular in most tenses
Hacer - irregular in most tenses
Haber – confused often with “hacer”. Used in the present perfect and to express “there
is or there are (hay)” or “there was or there used to be” (Hubo in the preterite and Había
in the imperfect).
Salir – “go” form in the present tense
Ver – Conjugated as if spelled “veer” in some tenses
And if that weren’t enough be careful with that have spelling chages due to phonetics like
***car, gar and zar verbs
***verbs that end in uir like huir and construir.