Spanish Basics

Verbs
Present Tense
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs
o amos
as ais
a an

dar
doy damos
das dais
da dan
o emos
es eis
e en

ser
soy somos
eres sois
es son

hacer
hago hacemos
haces hacéis
hace hacen

hacer
veo vemos
ves veis
ve ven
o imos
es ís
e en

decir
digo decimos
dices decís
dice dicen

ir
voy vamos
vas vais
va van

reir
río reímos
ríes reís
ríe ríen

seguir
sigo seguimos
sigues
sigue siguen

oir
oigo oímos
oyes oís
oye oyen


Present Progressive Tense
[subject] is/am/ar [verb]-ing
This form expresses action in the present: I am doing something...
eg:
 yo estoy comiendo. - I am eating.
estoy estamos
estas estais
esta estan
+ -AR Verb Root -ando
+ -ER/IR Verb Root -iendo


Preterite (past) Tense
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs Special Irregular Verbs
é amos
aste asteis
ó aron

dar
di dimos
diste disteis
dio dieron

jugar
jugué jugamos
jusaste jugáis
jugó juegan
í imos
iste isteís
ió ieron

ser
fui fuimos
fuiste fuisteis
fue fueron

ver
vi vimos
viste visteis
vio vieron
í imos
iste isteís
ió ieron

ir
fui fuimos
fuiste fuisteis
fue fueron

decir
dije dijimos
dijiste dijisteis
dijo dijeron

oir
oí oímos
oíste oísteis
oyó oyeron
andar -> anduv
caber -> cupe
decir -> dij *
estar -> estuv
hacer -> hic
poder -> pud
poner -> pus
saber -> sup
tener -> tuv
traer -> traj*
traducr -> traduj
querer -> quis
venir -> vin
e imos
iste isteis
o ieron

e imos
iste isteis
o eron - *


Preterite Imperfect Tense

The Preterite Imperfect describes an event from the past where the timeframe of the event is irrelevant to the event being described, as in "we were living there for 6 weeks" or "I had a cute outfit when I was a kid".

It is also used to describes 'used-to' events, habitual or repetetive actions from the past, as in "when I used to have.." or "I enjoyed living there"

eg:
 Iba a comer... - I was going to eat...
Cuando vivía en Syracuse... - When I was living in Syracuse...
I had a red shirt... - Tenía una camisa roja...
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs
aba abamos
abas abais
aba aban
ía íamos
ías íais
ía ían

Ver
veía veíamos
veías veíais
veía veían

Ser
era éramos
eras erais
era eran
ía íamos
ías íais
ía ían

Ir
iba íbamos
ibas ibais
iba iban


Present Perfect Tense
[subject] have/has [verb as past participle]
This form is used to express an action in the past that relates to the present.
eg:
 yo he comido. - I have eaten.
he hemos
has habéis
ha han
+ -AR Verb Root -ado
+ -ER/IR Verb Root -ido
abrir ->abierto
cubrir ->cubierto
decir ->dicho
escribir ->escrito
hacer ->hecho
morir ->muerto
poner ->puesto
romper ->roto
ver ->visto
volver ->vuelto


Pluperfect Tense
[subject] had [verb as past participle]
This form is used to express an action that had happened in the past, before another past event. The term 'pluperfect' means 'more than perfect (past), or further back in the past
eg:
 yo había comido antes de salir. - I had eaten before going out.
había habíamos
habías habíais
había habían
+ -AR Verb Root -ado
+ -ER/IR Verb Root -ido
abrir ->abierto
cubrir ->cubierto
decir ->dicho
escribir ->escrito
hacer ->hecho
morir ->muerto
poner ->puesto
romper ->roto
ver ->visto
volver ->vuelto


Present Perfect Subjunctive Tense
[subject] have/has [verb as past participle]
This form is used to express doubt, emotion, etc in the present about something that happened in the past
eg:
 Busco una persona que haya estado en Syracuse. -
I'm looking for someone who's been to Syracuse.
Dudo que hayan comido. -
I doubt that they have eaten.
que haya que hayamos
que hayas que hayáis
que haya que hayan
+ -AR Verb Root -ado
+ -ER/IR Verb Root -ido
abrir ->abierto
cubrir ->cubierto
decir ->dicho
escribir ->escrito
hacer ->hecho
morir ->muerto
poner ->puesto
romper ->roto
ver ->visto
volver ->vuelto


Past Anterior Tense
[subject] had [verb as past participle]
This form is used after certain time phrases to indicate when, as soon as, etc. an event had happened.
The following time expressions are often related to this form of haber, but in speech this form is often replaced with the simple preterite or the pluperfect .
después (de) que -
after		 así que -
as soon as		 luego que -
as soon as
tan pronto como -
as soon as		 no bien -
no sooner		 cuando -
when
apenas -
hardly
eg:
 Cuando él se hubo lido ella limpié el apartamento. -
When he had left she cleaned the apartment
hube hubimos
hubiste hubisteis
hubo hubieron
+ -AR Verb Root -ado
+ -ER/IR Verb Root -ido
abrir ->abierto
cubrir ->cubierto
decir ->dicho
escribir ->escrito
hacer ->hecho
morir ->muerto
poner ->puesto
romper ->roto
ver ->visto
volver ->vuelto


Past Perfect Tense
[subject] had [verb as past participle]
This form is frequently used with cuando/pero/luego/mas tarde/etc
eg:
 Ellos ya habián comido cuando yo llegé. - They had already eaten when I arrived.
había habiamos
habías habíais
había habían
Past Participle:
+ -AR Verb Root -ado
+ -ER/IR Verb Root -ido
abrir ->abierto
cubrir ->cubierto
decir ->dicho
escribir ->escrito
hacer ->hecho
morir ->muerto
poner ->puesto
romper ->roto
ver ->visto
volver ->vuelto


Subjunctive

The subjunctive is a verb form that is rarely used in English. The closest equivalent is to say is the "would" form of the verb "to be" as in I would like it if you studied more or He would like a white house.

The subjunctive is used in areas of doubt, uncertainty, vagueness, the unknown, hope, influence, or the lack of existence. It is often triggered with the word que, and is used instinctively in the Spanish language

A.
The subjunctive is formed
by conjugating a verb in the first person present
then truncating the conjugation, and adding --->
eg:
hablar --> hable, hables, hable...
salir --> salga, salgas, salga...
correr --> corra, corras, corra...
tener --> tenga, tengas, tenga...
The following verbs require spelling changes in the subjunctive:
buscar --> busque, busques...
empezar --> empiece, empieces...
escoger --> escoja, escojas...
pagar --> pague, pagues...
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs
e emos
es eis
e en

Estar
esté estemos
estés estéis
esté estén

Dar
de´ demos
des deis
de´ den

Saber
sepa sepamos
sepas sepais
sepa sepan
a amos
as ais
a an

Ser
sea seamos
seas seais
sea sean

Ver
vea veamos
veas veáis
vea vean
a amos
as ais
a an

Ir
vaya vayamos
vayas vayáis
vaya vayan

Oir
oiga oigamos
oigas oigáis
oiga oigan

Seguir
siga sigamos
sigas sigáis
siga sigan

A. The subjunctive is often seen with verbs of influence or desire in sentences using the word que

aconsejar que + - to advise someone to...
buscar que + - to look for (want) someone or something that...
causar que + - to cause someone to...
decir que + - to tell someone to...
demandar que + - to demand that someone (do something, etc)...
desear que + - to desire that someone (do something, etc)...
evitar que + - to avoid someone's (doing something, etc)...
gustarse que + - to like someone to...
hacer que + - to make someone...
impedir que + - to prevent someone (doing something, etc)...
insistir que + - to insist on someone (doing something, etc)...
lograr que + - to manage to get someone to...
mandar que + - to order someone to...
obligar que + - to oblige someone to...
ojalá que +- to hope that someone (does something, etc)...
ordenar que + - to order someone to...
pedir que + - to ask someone to...
permitir que + - to permit someone to...
preferir que + - to prefer someone to...
proponer que + - to propose that someone (do something, etc)...
requerir que + - to require someone to...
rogar que + - to pray that someone (do something, etc)...
querer que + - to want someone to...
solicitar que + - to solicit (ask for) someone to...
sugerir que + - to suggest someone to...
suplicar que + - to beg someone to...

B. The subjunctive is seen with statements of doubt and the word que

creer que + - to believe that...
dudar que + - to doubt that...
es posible que +- it is possible that...

However if a statement using a verb of doubt is negative then the subjunctive is not used. (no creo que...). Conversely, a statement of certainty used in the negative does use the subjunctive (No es cierto que...).

C. The subjunctive is used negative expressions to describe something that doesn't exist.

No hay nadie que tenga ocho hermanos. - There is nobody that has eight brothers.
No hay nadie que conozca mi casa. - There is nobody that knows my house

D. The subjunctive is used with expressions that describe emotions regarding someone else's actions.

Me soprendo de que no salgas - I'm suprised that you don't go.
Nos alegramos de que le guste el regalo - We're glad that you like the present.
Siento triste que no vengas. - I feel sad that you don't come.

E. The subjunctive is used in impersonal expressions with the word que. Here the person being spoken about is unknown.

Es posible + - It's possible that...
Es importante + - It's important that...
Es urgente + - It's urgent that...
Necesitamos + - It's necessary that...
Es mejor que + - It's better that that...
Es verdad que + - It's true that that...
Es gracioso + - It's funny that...
Es tremendo + - It's tremendous that...
Tal vez que + - Perhaps...
Quizás que + - Perhaps...


Imperfect Subjunctive Tense To form the imperfect subjunctive take the stem from the 3rd person plural of the preterite tense and add either of the two following forms (they are both interchangeable):
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs Special Irregular Verbs
ara áramos
aras arais
ara aran
ase ásemos
ases aseis
ase asen
iera iéramos
ieras ierais
iera ieran
iese iésemos
ieses ieseis
iese iesen
iera iéramos
ieras ierais
iera ieran
iese iésemos
ieses ieseis
iese iesen
andar -> anduv
caber -> cupe
decir -> dij *
estar -> estuv
hacer -> hic
poder -> pud
poner -> pus
saber -> sup
tener -> tuv
traer -> traj*
traducr -> traduj
querer -> quis
venir -> vin

The Imperfect Subjunctive Tense is often used in conditional statements of the future, particularly in the form
if [imperfect subjunctive], [future conditional] algo.

Si tuviera mas dinero yo sería rico. - If I had more money I would be rich.
Si pudiera ir a la luna quedaría allí. - If I could go to the moon I would stay there.


Commands

A command does not have to be a shouted instruction, but generally is a direct request to someone to execute an action.

A. To give a command to someone familiar (2nd person familiar) use the third person present tense (él/ella/usted).

B. When giving a negative command to someone familiar, use the 2nd person familiar of the subjunctive tense in the 2nd person familiar (tú).

C. When giving a command to someone you would speak to formally (3rd person present), or to a group of people (3rd person plural) use the subjunctive tense in the 3rd person, singular or plural.

D. The following verbs are irregular in the familiar 2nd person:

decir - di
hacer - haz
ir - ve
poner - pon
salir - sal
ser - sé
tener - ten
venir - ven


eg:
A. Espera por mi.
 - Wait for me.
B. No tenga eso.
 - Don't take that.
C. Venga aqui, por favor (Ud).
 - Come here, please.
D. Hazlo
 - Do it.


Future Plans
[subject] is/am/are going to [verb]
This form expresses an intention to do something in the future.
eg:
 Yo voy a comer. - I am going to eat.
voy vamos
vas vais
va van
+ a + verb infinitive


Future Tense

Both the future and conditional tenses use the entire infinitive of the verb, then append the ending to that. eg. comeré
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs Special Irregular Verbs
é emos
ás éis
á án
é emos
ás éis
á án
é emos
ás éis
á án
caber -> cabr
decir -> dir
haber -> habr
hacer -> har
poder -> podr
poner -> pondr
querer -> querr
saber -> sabr
tener -> tendr
valer -> valdr
venir -> vendr


Conditional Tense

Both the conditional and future tenses use the entire infinitive of the verb, then append the ending to that. eg. comeré
-AR verbs -ER verbs -IR verbs Special Irregular Verbs
ía íamos
ías íais
ía ían
ía íamos
ías íais
ía ían
ía íamos
ías íais
ía ían
caber -> cabr
decir -> dir
haber -> habr
hacer -> har
poder -> podr
poner -> pondr
querer -> querr
saber -> sabr
tener -> tendr
valer -> valdr
venir -> vendr