How I learn Spanish verbs

Do you want to know how I learn Spanish verbs? When you’re learning Spanish, Spanish verb conjugation rarely inspires enthusiasm, even in the most dedicated language learner. If you think learning how to conjugate Spanish verbs is all word lists and conjugation tables, think again! Verb conjugation is vital to speaking and understanding Spanish. In most Romance languages, including Spanish, the conjugation of a verb tells you an incredible amount of information in a single word.This can sometimes be confusing for English-speaking Spanish learners because English has so few distinct conjugations. For example, the verb “to eat” in the past tense takes the same form for each person: 

• I ate
• You ate
• He/she ate
• We ate
• They ate

In Spanish, however, each verbis formed differently based on who is doing the running.

In Spanish, there are three categories of verbs. The category is determined by the last two letters of the infinitive:

-ar verbs (like hablar)
-er verbs (like comer)
-ir verbs (like vivir)

The infinitive is the base form of the verb, such as to speak, to eat, to live, etc. In Spanish, all infinitives end in -ar, -er, or -ir.

-ar verb
hablar (to speak)

-er verb
comer (to eat)

-ir verb
vivir (to live)

To conjugate a verb means to manipulate the infinitive so that it agrees with the different possible subjects. Here is the present tense conjugation of the infinitive “to speak”:

to speak

I speak
you speak
he speaks
she speaks
we speak
you-all speak
they speak

The present tense in Spanish can mean three things. The Spanish phrase “yo hablo” can mean:

yo hablo
I speak

yo hablo
I am speaking

yo hablo
I do speak