Verbs | Spanish Blog

Posts tagged w/ verbs

Study tip: learning irregular verbs in the past

Posted by adir ferreira

Oct

2009

Irregular verbs are named that way because they are conjugated in unexpected ways. As a result, they are more difficult to learn and remember. They come in several present, past, and future tenses and there’s no magic way to learn them, but I devised a scheme here that might help you learn some verbs in the past. The verbs are tener (to have), estar (to be), venir (to come), poder (to be able to), poner (to put), querer (to want), saber (to know), caber (to fit), decir (to say) and traer (to bring).

Here’s the deal: I’ll give you the first verb form of tener (to have). See how I separared the root of the past tense and the ending. Now, if you remember just that form, and then add the same personal endings, you will be able to use all forms correctly for this tense

Yo                           tuv-e
Tú                           tuv-iste
Él/ella/usted           tuv-o
Nosotros(as)            tuv-imos
Vosotros(as)            tuv-isteis
Ellos/ellas/ustedes tuv-ieron

The same happens with these verbs:

Estar = estuv (estuv-e, estuv-iste)
Venir = vin (vin-e, vin-iste, etc.)
Poder = pud (pud-e, pud-iste)
Poner = pus (pus-e, pus-iste)
Querer = quis (quis-e, quis-iste)
Saber = sup (sup-e, sup-iste)
Caber = cup (cup-e, cup-iste)
Decir = dij (dij-e, dij-iste)
Traer = traj (traj-e, traj-iste)

Like the tip? Leave a comment and, if you have any other tips to learn Spanish verbs, tell us!

Posted under Grammar, Spanish Language
Tagged with verbs

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Cuéntame todo.

Posted by adir ferreira

Sep

2009

The verb contar has several meanings. Check them out!

1. to count (to add up)

Ella quiere perder peso sin contar calorías. – She wants to lose weight without counting calories.

2. to tell (a story)

¿Le contaste la historia a tu hermano? – Did you tell your brother the story?
No se lo cuente a nadie. – Don’t tell anybody.

3. to have (a period of time)

Cuenta 15 años de experiencia en periodismo. – He has 15 years of experience in journalism.

4. to count (to matter)

La maestra dijo que ese error no cuenta. – The teacher said this mistake doesn’t count.

5. used with “con”

Cuento contigo. – I’m counting on you.
Cuento con los derechos de reventa de los libros de Stephen King. – I have the resale rights for Stephen King’s books.
Tuve que contar con expertos en biología para terminar tal trabajo. – I had to count on Biology experts to finish that job.

6. Con esto yo no contaba. – I wasn’t expecting this.

7. ¿Qué te cuentas? – What’s happening?

9. to count oneself in, to considerer oneself as.

Los medios estadounidenses se cuentan entre los mejores del mundo. – The American media are among the best in the world.

Nos vemos prontito.

Posted under Language, Spanish Language, Vocabulary
Tagged with verbs

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Verbs and Prepositions

Posted by adir ferreira

Sep

2009

Verbs and other words change meaning when used with some prepositions. Let’s have a look at some of them.

1. deber

Deber – have to, must (obligation) – Debes estudiar mucho para la prueba. (You have to study a lot for the test.)

Deber de – must, should (probability) – Hoy no ha venido; debe de estar enferma. (She didn’t come today; she must be sick.)

2. dar

Darse a (to work hard, to start doing something vigorously) – Para no perder la beca, me daré al estudio. (I will study hard so I don’t lose my scholarship.) – Después de que su mujer lo abandonara, se dio a beber. (He started drinking after his wife left him.)

Darse con uno (to run into someone) – Se dieron con Rosa en la fiesta. (They ran into Rosa at the party.)

Dar por (to consider something finished) – Esta tarea la doy por concluida. (This task is over and done with.)

Darse sobre uno (to attack) – El perro se dio sobre el niño y casi lo mató. (The dog attacked the boy and almost killed him.)

Dar para (stretch to cover) – Nuestro presupuesto no da para comprar un coche nuevo. (Our budget is not enough to buy a new car.)

Nos vemos prontito.

Posted under Language, Spanish Language, Vocabulary
Tagged with verbs

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El Imperativo … con música!

Posted by adir ferreira

Jun

2009

I know how it feels to have to learn all those conjugation forms by heart… and there are so many exceptions to the rules… blah blah blah.

So, dear reader, to help you learn about the imperative a little more pleasantly, I chose two videos: the first one is Thalia’s Regresa a Mí, where you can learn many regular and irregular imperative forms while you sing along. The verbs you have to pay attention to are: dar – regresar – decir (negative) – tener – dejar – tratar – tomar – decir.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_-7afVw1-s

Before JLo started dating Marc Anthony (who, by the way, was married to a Miss Universe!, Sí, estoy muy chismoso hoy), they did a duet singing No Me Ames (Don’t Love Me). Now, try to do the same by finding the imperative form of the following verbs: decir – dudar – amar – dejar – escuchar . Tip: many of them are negative imperative, ok?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRNmA70EteM

Posted under Culture, Entertainment, Grammar, Language, Spanish Language
Tagged with music, verbs

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I take it you’re taking this too seriously, so don’t take it out on me, ok?

Posted by adir ferreira

Apr

2009

You must have noticed by now that learning a foreign language is not easy job, because so many words have different uses and meanings. Let’s take a look at several verbs with multiple meanings.

LLEVAR - to take/carry, take a person (somewhere), wear
llevar a cabo - to carry through, accomplish
llevar a los niños a la escuela - to take the children to school
llevar conmigo - to take with me
llevar ropa - to wear clothing
llevar una cosa - to take/carry a thing
llevar una vida de perros - to lead a dog’s life

QUITAR - to remove, take off/away
quitar el polvo - to dust, remove dust
quitar la nieve - to shovel/remove snow
quitar la pintura - to strip/remove the paint
quitar la ropa – to take off one’s clothes

SACAR - to take (out)
sacar a bailar - to ask for a dance
sacar a paseo - to take (out) for a walk
sacar agua - to get/draw water
sacar algo de la caja - to take something from (out of) the box
sacar una foto - to take a picture

TOMAR - to take, drink, eat
tomar apuntes - to take notes
tomar el sol - to sunbathe, to lie in the sun
tomar en cuenta - to consider
tomar leche - to drink milk
tomar lugar - to take place
tomar parte en - to take part in
tomar una comida - to have a meal