Present Tense

A verb expresses an action or indicates a state or condition.

An infinitive is the form of a verb that shows no subject or number, such as comprar/ to buy, vender/ to sell, recibir/ to receive.

Verbs consist of a stem, such as compr in comprar, vend in vender, recib in recibir , and an ending, such as -ar, -er, -ir. Stems of regular verbs do not change, but stems of irregular verbs sometimes do change.

 

Clasificación de los verbos/ Classification of verbs

In Spanish, verbs are classified according to the endings of their infinitive.

1.      First conjugation: verbs ending in -ar

2.      Second conjugation: verbs ending in -er

3.      Third conjugation: verbs ending in -ir

Unlike English, each subject has a distinct verb ending.

 

FIRST CONJUGATION:

Comprar/ to buy

yo compro/ I buy tú compras/ you buy él, ella, usted compra/ he, she, you (formal) buy(s) nosotros compramos/ we buy vosotros compráis/ you buy ellos, ustedes compran/ they, you buy

SECOND AND THIRD CONJUGATIONS:

The endings for the second and third groups are identical except for the nosotros and vosotros.

Vender/ to sell	Recibir/ to receive
yo vendo tú vendes él vende nos.vendemos vos. vendéis ellos venden	yo recibo tú recibes él recibe nos. recibimos vos. recibís ellos reciben

NOTE: In the above examples, to conjugate a verb, the ending of the infinitive (-ar, -er, -ir) is removed and an appropriate ending is added.

 

Use the present tense in the following situations:

The Spanish present tense is equivalent to following 4 forms in English:

Yo firmo el contracto.

I sign the contract. I do sign the contract. I am signing the contract. I will sign the contract. (in the immediate future)

1. It is used to indicate what is happening now.

EXAMPLE:

·         Yo como ahora./ I am eating right now.

 

2. The present tense is also used to express an action that will take place in the immediate future:

EXAMPLE:

·         Firmo el contracto mañana./ I will sign the contract tomorrow.

 

3. It is also used to make a request or ask for instructions:

EXAMPLES:

·         ¿Quieren cenar conmigo? Will you have dinner with me?

·         ¿Escribo el cheque?/ Shall I write the check?

 

4. This tense is used to indicate habitual actions:

EXAMPLES:

·         Los Argentinos cenan alrededor de las 10 de la noche./ Argentines eat dinner around 10 P.M.

·         Los españoles duermen una siesta después de almorzar./ Spanish people take a nap after lunch.

 

NOTE: Since the verb endings indicate who the subject is, the subject pronouns are frequently omitted; however, it is ALWAYS used when there are 2 subjects and 2 verbs.

EXAMPLES:

·         Correct: Yo tomo, y ella come./ I drink, and she eats.

·         Incorrect: Tomo y come./ I drink, and she eats.