¡Hola a todos! (Hello everyone)
My name is Mikail Stewart and I will be presenting you all with the necessary information for CSEC Spanish. The following blog posts should accomplish the following: 1. They should provide students with a thorough understanding of the elements of the Spanish language. 2. They should give students a comprehensive review of the topics that would be covered during your high school years.
3. Each post will provide various exercises to help students understand and master the information presented.
Now with introductions out of the way, let's begin learning Spanish
Before we begin here are two links to refresher videos on how the letters in Spanish are pronounced, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkPMSWJbF1M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sh7MLrbxH2E
PRESENT TENSE OF REGULAR VERBS
What are regular verbs you may ask? Well, in Spanish (and most other languages), verbs may be classified into two types: Regular and Irregular.
A regular verb is a verb that follows the regular conjugation patterns of a language whilst, an irregular verb as you might have guessed is a verb that deviates from this regular pattern.
Before we take a look at the conjugation of the regular verbs we first need to take a look at the subject pronouns in Spanish, so that we can learn how to accurately speak about who is doing an action.
What are the subject pronouns?
SUBJECT PRONOUNS
Yo - First person singular pronoun, I in English.
Tú - Second person informal singular pronoun, You in English.
Usted - Second person formal singular pronoun, You in English (if you are speaking to your teacher or person of higher authority than you or a complete stranger).
Él, Ella - Third person singular pronoun, He/She in English.
Nosotros/as - First person plural pronoun, We in English.
Vosotros/as - Second person informal plural ( Used when referring to a group of people at or below your rank of authority) You all/ You guys in English
Ustedes - Second person formal plural ( Same use as usted however it refers to a group of people at a higher rank of authority than you or complete strangers). You all in English
Ellos, Ellas - Third person plural pronoun. They in English. (Ellos is used for a group that has a mix of the two genders)
CONJUGATION
The present tense of regular verbs is formed by dropping the infinitive ending ( -ar, -er, -ir) and adding the following endings:
-ar verbs: -o, -as, -a, -amos, -áis, -an
-er verbs: -0, -es, -e, -emos, -éis, -en
-ir verbs: -0, -es, -e, -imos, -ís, -en
The present tense carries any of the following meanings:
Yo como - I eat, I am eating, I do eat
Usted baila - You dance, You are dancing, You do dance
Ellos viven - They live, They are living, They do live
USING THE PRESENT TENSE
Using the present tense we can express some of the following ideas:
An affirmative statement/ positive statement, eg - You like apples
A negative statement, eg - You don't like apples
An affirmative question, eg - Do you like apples?
A negative question, eg - Do you not like apples?
Affirmative Statement
In an affirmative statement the sentence structure is, subject then conjugated verb then object.
Yo como la comida
Yo - I - subject
Como - eat - verb
La comida - food - object
The subject is the person or thing carrying out an action,
The verb is the action that the subject is carrying out.
The object is the receiver of the subjects action in the sentence.
Negative Statement
In a negative statement , the word "no" follows the subject and goes immediately before the verb
Yo no como la comida
I do not eat food
Placing the word "no" immediately before the verb indicates that the action has been negated in other words the subject is not carrying out this action.
Affirmative Question
In an affirmative question the subject usually follows the verb.
¿Comen ellos la comida? - Do they eat food?
Negative Question
In a negative question the word "no" is placed before the verb and the verb is placed before the subject.
¿No comen ellos la comida? - Do they not eat food?
NB - In Spanish the subject pronouns are often omitted
Como comida - I eat food Unless you are emphasizing ¿Comes tu comida? - Do you eat food?
This covers the first topic in the Spanish blog
Here are some frequently used verbs
-AR Verbs
Ayudar - to help
Bajar - to go down/ descend
Borrar - to erase
Buscar - to search for
Caminar - to walk
Cantar - to sing
Coleccionar - to collect
Comprar - to buy
Contestar - to answer
Cultivar - to cultivate
Dejar - to leave. let, allow
Descansar - to rest
Desear - to wish
Enseñar - to teach
Entrar - to teach
Escuchar - to listen to
Esperar - to wait for, to await, to hope, to expect
Estudiar - to study
Explicar - to explain
Gritar - to shout
Hablar - to speak, to talk
Hallar - to find
Invitar - to invite
Llenar - to fill
Llevar - to carry, to wear
Mirar - to look at, to watch
Necesitar - to need
Pagar - to pay for
Pasar - to pass, to spend time
Patinar - to skate
Practicar - to practice
Preguntar - to ask
Preparar - to prepare
Quitar - to take away
Regresar - to return
Sacar - to take out, to take (photo)
Tomar - to take
Trabajar - to work
Usar - to use
Viajar - to travel
Visitar - to visit
-ER
Aprender - to learn
Beber - to drink
Comer - to eat
Comprender - to understand
Correr - to run
Creer - to believe
Deber - to have to, to owe
Esconder - to hide
Leer - to read
Prometer - to promise
Responder -to answer
Vender - to sell
-IR
Abrir - to open
Asistir a - to attend
Cubrir - to cover
Decidir - to decide
Describir - to describe
Dividir - to divide
Escribir - to write
Insistir en - to insist on
Partir - to leave, to depart
Permitir - to allow, to permit
Recibir - to receive
Subir - to go up, to climb
Sufrir - to suffer
Vivir - to live
As you can see majority of Spanish verbs are -AR verbs. This list is made up of frequently used regular verbs it would be beneficial for you learn these verbs and learn how each verb is properly pronounced.
In the next blog post we will speak about "The Present Tense of Stem-Changing Verbs".