Learning the verbs
 

Hi everyone,

I'm having a little trouble wrapping my head around making words into verbs in Spanish. As you can tell, I'm very new. I have only been learning for 5 weeks.

I wanted to know if anyone here has any special techniques or ways that they learn verb conjugation? I have been reading my text book but I am not grasping it too well.

If there is nothing you can tell me thats ok - was just wondering if there was a technique or a way that helped you to learn them.

Thanks!

- Cactus

Memorization of the endings for each of the verb classes (-AR, -ER, -IR) in each of the tenses (and moods) is the only way I can think of to learn conjugation. Grasping the concept of person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural) can't be stressed enough. In English, you must use a person with the verb. In Spanish, it is omitted whenever possible (the endings tell you what person it is, except for the ambiguous 3rd person).

I spoke the following phrases aloud for days while I was learning the present tense:
-AR verb endings: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -an
Hablar: hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, hablan
-ER verb endings: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -en
Comer: como, comes, come, comemos, comen
-IR verb endings: -o, -es, -e, -imos, -en
Vivir: vivo, vives, vive, vivimos, viven

Note 1: I learned the persons first - I said this list with and without persons
Note 2: I saw no need to learn vosotros (2nd person plural) at first because I was only interested in learning Latin American Spanish
Note 3: The endings for -ER and -IR verbs are identical, except for the 1st person plural

I learned the most common irregular verbs (those that don't follow the rules) along with the regular ones.

Ser: soy, eres, es, somos, son
Estar: estoy, estás, está, estamos, están

The 1st-person irregular verbs were next.

Dar: doy, das, da, damos, dan
Saber: sé, sabes, sabe, sabemos, saben
Conocer: conozco, conoces, conoce, conocemos, conocen

Last of all, I learned the stem-changing verbs (some of which also have irregular 1st persons).

entender: entiendo, entiendes, entiende, entendemos, entienden
tener: tengo, tienes, tiene, tenemos, tienen
pedir: pido, pides, pide, pedimos, piden

Note 1: The stem doesn't change for the 1st person plural (and vosotros)
Note 2: Tener is both a stem-changing verb and an irregular 1st person verb

And that's just the present tense. :eek:

Once you've mastered it, though, the other conjugations will be less of a challenge. There are a few tips we can share with you when you're ready to move on to the past tenses, the imperative, and the subjunctive.

You may want to memorize the conjugated verbs with short phrases that use each person. Make these phrases something you'll use many times in the future.
Above all, HAVE FUN. :D

Rote repetition is what I used too, in all of the languages I've studied. My Latin teacher said that even if we forgot everything else, we would always remember the present tense of "amare": "amo, amas, amat, amamus, amatis, amant". I can also remember the first and second declensions of verbs (using puella and dominus as models), even though I haven't used Latin (except in deciphering the odd inscription on old buildings) since 1997.

I learned by rote too.

Then when I thought I 'had it', before I went to my Spanish lesson I would have breakfast in a bar run by a Columbian friend & she would call across the bar I work - we eat - they live - he is and so on so that I could say them 'out of order' as it were.

I find that once you have learned one tense & understand the pattern, the others are fairly easy.

It's learning when to use them that is then a little harder..................

Transcribe a novel from Spanish to Spanish, while translating it to English in order to understand it. If you understand it without efforts, then it means you just need the writing practice.

:)

Use them, use them, use them. Memorizing lists of verb conjugations is a way to start, but in my brain, they get all jumbled up. You have to use them over and over and over before you start to know, innately, when you've got the correct ending!

I'm like you verbs tenses "get all jumbled up" if I don't learn them in the form of senstences they are used. I easily forget them if I just memorized them and not understand how they are used in actual sentences.

Good advice, Lou Ann. :thumbsup: :)

You can start writing in Spanish and you'll learn them sooner. ;)

:thinking: The memory (or the keyboard) plays weird tricks.

I take Perikles is talking about
Declinación = Declension = the inflection of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives for categories such as case and number. (As something 'slightly' different than "conjugación" = conjugation of verbs...)

Right?