Introduction
Spanish verbs change their ending to show who is doing the action and when. The basic form, the infinitive, always ends in -ar, -er or -ir, and each group has its own set of endings.
| group | infinitive | yo form (present) |
|---|---|---|
| -ar | hablar (to speak) | hablo |
| -er | comer (to eat) | como |
| -ir | vivir (to live) | vivo |
Six Persons
Each tense has six forms, one for each person. Because the ending shows the person, the subject pronoun is usually left out.
- Hablo inglés.I speak English.
- ¿Hablas francés?Do you speak French?
- Hablamos mañana.We'll talk tomorrow.
Many common verbs are irregular or change their stem. They are covered on the following pages.
Practice
Which group does vivir belong to?
Which verb is an -er verb?
Hablamos means ___.
Why is the subject pronoun often left out?
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