Posts tagged with "conjugation"

Spanish Lesson Beginner 20 To need, to want, to prefer

Posted by Laura 10 Comments
Aug 3 2011
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¡Hola! ¿Cómo estáis?

I hope very much that you are enjoying my Spanish video lessons and are starting to feel more confident with your Spanish. We are now up to lesson 20 in the beginner course and you have learned a great deal of the basics.

Today we will look at three new, very useful, verbs: to need (“necesitar”), to want (“querer”) and to prefer (“preferir”). I will explain how you should form each of the verbs and how you can use them to make sentences.

Necesitar: To need:

• (Yo) necesito: I need
• (Tú) necesitas: You need (friendly)
• (Usted) necesita: You need (formal)
• (Él/ella) necesita: He/she needs
• (Nosotros/as) necesitamos: We need
• (Vosotros/as) necesitáis: You need (group/friendly)
• (Ustedes) necesitan: You (group) need (group/formal)
• (Ellos/as) necesitan: They need

For example:

• Necesito un taxi: I need a taxi
• Necesito + infinitivo: I need to…
• Necesito ir: I need to go
• No necesito ir: I don´t need to go
• ¿Necesitas algo?: Do you need anything?

Querer: To want:

• (Yo) quiero: I want
• (Tú) quieres: You want (friendly)
• (Usted) quiere: You want (formal)
• (Él/ella) quiere: He/she wants
• (Nosotros/as) queremos: We want
• (Vosotros/as) queréis: You want (group/friendly)
• (Ustedes) quieren: You want (group/formal)
• (Ellos/as) quieren: They want

For example:

• Quiero un coche: I want a car
• Quiero + infinitivo: I want to…
• Quiero ir: I want to go
• No quiero ir: I don´t want to go
• ¿Quieres algo?: Do you want anything?

Preferir: To prefer:

• (Yo) prefiero: I prefer
• (Tú) prefieres: You prefer (friendly)
• (Usted) prefiere: You prefer (formal)
• (Él/ella) prefiere: He/she prefers
• (Nosotros/as) preferimos: We prefer
• (Vosotros/as) preferís: You prefer (group/friendly)
• (Ustedes) prefieren: You prefer (group/formal)
• (Ellos/as) prefieren: They prefer

For example:

• Prefiero el pescado: I prefer fish
• Prefiero + infinitivo: I prefer to…
• Prefiero ir: I prefer to go
• No Prefiero ir: I don´t prefer to go
• ¿Prefieres este coche?: Do you prefer this car?

This is all for today’s lesson. “Necesitar”, “Querer” and “Preferir” are verbs that we use a lot in everyday conversation, so try to practice making different sentences with them as this will help you to memorise them better. Remember also not to change the second verb when you make sentences like “Quiero hablar español” (I want to speak Spanish). Never say “Quiero hablo” as you would be saying “I want I speak”. This is a common mistake that students make at this stage.

Have a great week, enjoy your Spanish studies and see you in our next lesson.

¡Hasta luego!

Verbs in -ducir

Posted by Transparent Language 1 Comment
Jul 18 2008

We know that a suffix is often added to a word stem to create new words, but that isn’t always the case. Let’s take the example of the suffix –ducir in Spanish and some verbs formed with it: conducir, reducir, deducir, etc. Such verbs are derived from Latin ducere, which meant “to lead”. The examples below are cognates of English verbs ending in either “-duce” or “-duct” and their meanings coincide in English and Spanish. They have irregular conjugation in the first person singular in the present (yo conduzco) and its preterite forms are conjugated as conduje, condujiste, condujo, etc. The website 123 Teach Me (www.123teachme.com) has a very good Spanish verb conjugator, so make sure you check it out. Here are the most common verbs ending in -ducir, along with a usage example of each:

Aducir (to adduce, to allege) – Él adujo que estaba borracho como atenuante. (He alleged being drunk as an extenuating circumstance.)

Conducir (to drive, to manage, to lead) – El director condujo la reunión de forma muy dinámica. (The director conducted the meeting in a very dynamic way.)

Deducir (to deduce, to infer) – Como llegaba empapado, deduje que había estado en la lluvia. (As he arrived soaking wet, I deduced he had been caught in the rain.)

Inducir (to induce, to lead) – A mí me indujeron el parto en la semana 41 del embarazo. (They induced labor on the 41st week of my pregnancy.)

Introducir (to introduce) – Este país introdujo el café en Europa. (This country introduced coffee to Europe.)

Producir (to produce) – Emilio Estefan produjo discos para artistas como Ricky Martin, Shakira y Thalía. (Emilio Estefan produced records for artists like Ricky Martin, Shakira and Thalia.)

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