Verbs, verbs, verbs…-ar, -er, -ir, pretérito imperfecto, pretérito indefinido, futuro simple or future imperfecto, pretérito perfecto…if you are already starting to sweat, then serve up the gazpacho and cool it down a notch as we take a look at some useful Spanish verbs. Thankfully, like most things in life, the 80/20 rule works for Spanish grammar too. Being able to conjugate the top 6 verbs any which way is a good route to confidence.
- Ser To be (permanent qualities)
When do I use it? Time, date, nationality, occupation/profession, physical description of people and places, event locations, occupation/profession.
- Estar To be *(temporary qualities)
When do I use it? Feelings, describing food, what you’re doing or what’s actively happening (continuous tense), location of buildings
- Hacer To make or to do
When do I use it? In Spanish, there’s no difference between the activities we do and the things we make, both activities are described with the verb hacer. He does his homework: El hace sus deberes She makes dinner: Ella hace la cena
- Tener To have
When do I use it? Possession, *age, phrasal verb Tener Que + Infinitivo (non-conjugated verb) *Age: In Spanish, you possess age e.g. Tengo 20 años = I have 20 years. NEVER use ser or estar with age, as in soy 20 or estoy 20.
- Ir To go The verb ir is almost exclusively used with the preposition a
When to use: To go to a location, phrasal verb Ir a + Infinitivo (non-conjugated verb) Do I really need to know another language? Maybe not, but here are 10 very good reasons why you should!
Andrie Steliou
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