Verbs Dominance

[jamesq]

Hello,

I recently discovered that the top 10 verbs are all irregular and so am now focusing purely on mastering them in all the tenses.

I'm curious to know what percentage the top 10, 20, 50 verbs make-up of the total verb usage in Spanish. I have heard that with the top 100 verbs mastered you are pretty fluent...

[Rusty]

There are thousands of verbs in Spanish and several of the most-used verbs are irregular.

Mastering verb conjugation is a good goal, but there's no reason to limit yourself to the top 100 verbs. I'd say you need to know at least two and a half to three times that amount in order to understand 80-90% of a day's worth of conversation.
You should focus on verb conjugation patterns and then learn which verbs follow which patterns.

Nouns will make up more of your conversation than verbs will. You'll need to learn over 2,600 nouns in order to understand 80-90% of the conversations during a week. You'll also need to know all the little words (articles, conjunctions and prepositions) and have a good amount of adjectives (1,000) and adverbs (100) under your belt.

All totaled, you should know how to use around 4,000 words before you can consider yourself conversant.

A native speaker without higher education knows about 5,000 words. It's doubled for someone who has a higher education.

[jamesq]

Thanks for your response Rusty.

I've previously been working at length on verb conjugation and yet I have progressed very little when it comes to actually speaking with flatmates. It was only a couple of days ago that I noticed that every single one of the top 10 verbs are irregular.

Because we keep our conversations very simple, I've noticed that these top 10 verbs dominate our short conversations. I'm curious to know how much they dominate Spanish in general...

[Rusty]

There are several lists, I'm sure, but you can start with the one below.
Some of the verbs are used reflexively, as well. It pays to know both forms.

Los Verbos Más Utilizados

Regular
aburrir, acabar, alegrar, amar, aprender, ayudar, bailar, bajar, bañar, beber, besar, buscar, cambiar, cantar, coger, comer, comparar, comprar, comprender, conectar, confirmar, congelar, contestar, copiar, correr, cortar, crear, creer, deber, decidir, dejar, descansar, dirigir, disculpar, duchar, dudar, durar, echar, educar, empujar, encantar, enseñar, entrar, escuchar, esperar, estudiar, explicar, faltar, fumar, ganar, gastar, girar, gustar, hablar, importar, intentar, invitar, lavar, leer, levantar, limpiar, llamar, llegar, llenar, llevar, llorar, localizar, marchar, matar, meter, mirar, molestar, necesitar, ocurrir, odiar, olvidar, pagar, parar, pasar, permitir, pintar, practicar, preguntar, pronunciar, quedar, responder, resultar, saltar, significar, subir, tardar, terminar, tirar, tocar, tomar, trabajar, unir, usar, vender, viajar, visitar, vivir

Irregular
abrir, acordar, acostar, andar, caer, cerrar, comenzar, conducir, confiar, conocer, conseguir, construir, contar, continuar, corregir, costar, crecer, dar, decir, divertir, dormir, elegir, empezar, encontrar, entender, escribir, estar, freír, haber, hacer, ir, jugar, llover, morir, mover, nacer, oír, oler, parecer, pedir, pensar, perder, poder, poner, preferir, probar, producir, prohibir, querer, recordar, reír, repetir, saber, salir, seguir, sentar, sentir, ser, servir, soltar, soñar, sugerir, suponer, tener, traducir, traer, valer, venir, ver, volver

[jamesq]

Yes, I am familiar with the lists. Sorry if my post wasn't clear but I'm wondering just how much these most common verbs (e.g. top 10, top 50, top 100) dominate the language.

If the average Spaniard uses x amount of verbs/day in conversation, what percentage of those verbs will be top 10/50/100 verbs? If an average newspaper article contains y amount of verbs, what percentage of those verbs will be top 10/50/100 verbs?

[Rusty]

I'm not certain, but the top 10/50/100 verbs will be used quite a lot. Think about how often you use the top 10/50/100 English verbs. What percentage would you attach? The same is most likely true for the Spanish equivalents.