Prepare yourself that Spanish verb conjugation is a topic for more than one class, and any attempt to rush into it will only lead to confusion and the belief that Spanish grammar is (surprise!) incredibly difficult.
This article will highlight the most important and necessary, what will help you not to get confused in the future.
Verbs in Spanish, unlike English, where there is only the ending -s in the second person, are conjugated in all persons. That is why we can so easily, speaking in Spanish, omit the pronoun altogether. Why is it needed if the verb already shows who it is about: about him, about them or about you? But that's not all. Verbs are one of the most difficult grammar topics in Spanish. One verb has more than 20 forms, changing:
1) by faces (me, you, you, etc.), 2) numbers (me, us, etc.), 3) tenses (there are 15 tenses in Spanish), 4) moods (I do, I would do, etc.).
And also the verb can be used in the active or passive voice (I builthouse, the house was built by me).
This article deals only with the conjugation of Spanish verbs, that is, their change in persons and numbers.
There are three types of verb conjugation in Spanish, depending on the ending in the initial form. Verbs that end in "-ar" are conjugated according to the first type (e.g. besar - to kiss), verbs ending in "-er" - according to the second (e.g. beber - to drink), verbs with "-ir" - according to the third (escribir - to hide). There is, in fact, nothing complicated, just remember the endings for each type. Of course, in the formation of endings there will be similarities and their own logic. In all three types of conjugation in the first person singular, the verb will have the ending - "o" (beso, bebo, escribo). Let's look further: the endings of the second person for the same verbs are "-as, -es, -es". Third person singular for all genders: "-a, -e, -e". It is easy to see: both there and there, the second and third types of declension suggest "-e" in the ending, and in the endings of the first type we see "a". First person plural: "-amos, -emos, -imos". Obviously, in this person, verbs with the ending "ar" end in "-amos", verbs with "er" - the end "-emos", verbs with "ir" end in "-imos". The similarity with the initial form of the word is obvious. In the second person singular, verbs have endings: "-a'is", "-e'is", "-i's", in the second person plural: "-an", "-en", "–en". And here again we can find parallels either withthe ending of the main form of the verb, or with the fact that the first type of conjugation receives the letter "a" in the ending, and the other two types - "e". By the way, new words in Spanish are inclined according to the first type, which gives every reason to consider it a priority in learning as well.
But, of course, there are exceptions to the rule. In this case, the exceptions cover such a volume of vocabulary that it is even difficult to call them exceptions. There is a huge group of verbs that do not conjugate according to the rules indicated above - irregular verbs. They, in turn, are divided into two groups:
1) Verbs whose conjugation cannot fit into any general pattern. For example, the verb ver (to see) is declined according to individual rules.
2) Irregular verbs that can be combined into groups according to the features of conjugation, and they will be conjugated according to the same rules within one group - these are the so-called declining verbs.
The number of individual conjugation verbs in Spanish is 21. You just need to learn them. But one should not think that this will be such a difficult task. First, these verbs are very often used. Second, don't attack them right away. After you understand the logic of conjugation of regular verbs, the features of the verbs of this group will immediately catch your eye, and what is well understood is well remembered.
As for declining verbs, there are six groups of them. There is also a division into seven groups. In the reference book by N. I. Popova, 81model of conjugation of Spanish verbs. Actually, the grouping method doesn't really matter.
How to learn Spanish verb conjugation?
In addition to the fact that it is necessary to break down a huge amount of information on the conjugation of verbs into "digestible" parts and study gradually one by one, it is necessary to properly build the development of the material. And here we can distinguish two psychological processes that are important in any learning: understanding and memorization. Arrange them strictly sequentially. First understanding, then memorization. As already shown in this article, the conjugation of Spanish verbs is carried out according to a completely logical pattern. And, despite the fact that the memory will still have to be actively involved, simple awareness can significantly speed up the process. At the initial stage, it is enough to take a table with the conjugation of regular verbs, or even compile it yourself and try to find all the connections and patterns, like those indicated above. After the rules are conscious, close, understandable, one should proceed to purely mechanical mental work - memorization. And this is achieved through constant repetition, exercises that will help you learn how to apply the knowledge gained.
Verb Conjugations (Spanish): Exercises
What Spanish exercises can I choose to consolidate my knowledge of verb conjugation? Basically, these are exercises in which sentences with a missing verb are given. You need to choose its correct form from the options offered or writeon one's own. This is not always effective, because such exercises are rarely really interesting. You can make it easier: try to silently translate the phrases of others, your own thoughts, imaginary situations, choosing the correct form of the verb for each case, and then checking yourself with the help of a reference book.
The conjugation of irregular Spanish verbs should also be studied sequentially. The only thing not to do is to take one group of inflected verbs and learn only that until it is fully worked out. It would be much better to take several of the most commonly used verbs from each group (and there are such in each group) and, using their example, carefully analyze the rules of conjugation. Then learn these words and learn how to use them in the correct form. And only after ease with them is achieved, move on to other words from each group. It is likely that they will not have to be crammed, because the declination scheme is already clear.
Thus, conjugating Spanish verbs may seem like an impossible task at first. Subsequently, looking back, you will wonder why this topic was perceived so hard at all, because Spanish is not included in the ranking of the most difficult languages in the world, unlike Russian or Chinese, which, due to its difficulty in mastering, is even mentioned in the Book of Records Guinness.
